Abstract
PurposeBuilding on the growing body of research that has addressed management control systems and innovation, the purpose of this study is to assess the extent and nature of the use of controls in an innovative setting and how they work together unveiling the relationships and tensions amongst the Simons’ levers.Design/methodology/approachThis study resorts to an in-depth and single case study in a company that has both a strong orientation to innovation and stable control practices in place. Evidence was collected from 32 interviews, visits to the company and internal documentation.FindingsAt the case company, it was possible to find the presence of controls according to all the levers of control. Likewise, joint effects of controls used according to interactive and beliefs approaches and diagnostic and boundary controls showed a consistent reinforcement that push the organization in a single direction. Signs of some countervailing reinforcement between these pairs were also detected, creating tensions. This in general shows that innovation can be weighed against the necessity of goal achievement taking place within fields in which the company can exploit the effort developed.Originality/valueThis study documents the collective use of controls in a context in which innovation is needed and how the combination of the levers of control with their inner workings and tensions allow the company to have a corporate environment of innovation that is friendly.
Highlights
Management accounting and control literatures have enquired into and advanced our knowledge on Management Control Systems (MCS) and Innovation with several recently published papers (e.g.: Bedford, 2015; Curtis and Sweeney, 2017; Aaltola, 2018; Healy et al, 2018; Barros and Ferreira, 2019; Bellora-Bienengräber, 2019; Müller-Stewens et al, 2020; Rathnasekara and Gooneratne, 2020)
At the case company it was possible to find the presence of controls according to all the levers of control
Joint effects of controls used according to interactive and beliefs approaches and diagnostic and boundary controls showed a consistent reinforcement that push the organization in a single direction
Summary
Management accounting and control literatures have enquired into and advanced our knowledge on Management Control Systems (MCS) and Innovation with several recently published papers (e.g.: Bedford, 2015; Curtis and Sweeney, 2017; Aaltola, 2018; Healy et al, 2018; Barros and Ferreira, 2019; Bellora-Bienengräber, 2019; Müller-Stewens et al, 2020; Rathnasekara and Gooneratne, 2020) This has allowed considerable knowledge to be accumulated, but there remains the “need to undertake further research into how management accounting and control practice realized by the managerial actors jointly and individually can contribute and relate to innovation” (Major et al, 2018: 154). We explore the extent and nature of the use of controls according to the Simons framework and how the controls used work together amongst the Simons’ levers. We conducted an in-depth case study at Amorim Cork Composites (ACC), a Portuguese enterprise that produces granulates and agglomerates of cork
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