Erik Strauss

The role of management control systems in situations of institutional complexity

Purpose - – This study investigates in depth how decision-making of different organisational members is shaped by various management control systems (MCSs) that reflect different institutional logics, how the entire organisation deals with the arising institutional complexity and which role different management controls as a system play in such situations. Design/methodology/approach - – A case study was conducted on a German Mittelstand firm whose MCSs were shaped by three different logics over time: a family logic, a stakeholder logic and a shareholder logic. Findings - – This paper shows how different actors of an organisation confronted with institutional complexity used selective coupling of different MCS components and compartmentalizing MCS components to deal with clashing institutional logics. Thereby, it was possible for the actors to balance different sub-communities within the firm that were shaped by conflicting but yet complementary logics that were required for organisational survival. Research limitations/implications - – This study contributes to the understanding of how an MCS can be exploited for organisational structural responses to multiple logics. Due to this research design, the present study deals with challenges of Practical implications - – The results show options for organisational leaders to deal with different kind of worldviews (i.e. logics) that shape employees’ behaviour. Particularly, this paper explains how leaders can restructure their MCSs to influence human behaviour in times of radical change. Originality/value - – This paper contributes to the literature on MCSs by showing what role MCSs play in structural responses to institutional complexity.

The development of MCS packages – balancing constituents' demands

Purpose – This study aims to consider how emerging management control systems (MCS) form the MCS package of start‐up firms. Based on institutional theory, the authors aim to better understand reasons for introducing MCS and the reciprocity between the parts of the firms overall MCS package.Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a qualitative cross‐sectional field study approach involving 74 interviews with key stakeholders in 20 young start‐up firms with venture capital financing. Interview data are fully transcribed, analysed, checked, and triangulated.Findings – The results uncover the main constituents of start‐up firms in three different institutional fields (nascent, start‐up, post start‐up), which substantially impact on the introduction of new MCS and the subsequent MCS packages. The introduction of formal MCS seems to be divided into different phases.Research limitations/implications – This study is subject to the limitations of case‐based research. Moreover, the theoretical underpinning...

A Role-Specific Perspective on Managerial Succession: The Case of New CFO Origin

Our paper contributes to the literature on executive successors other than the CEO by adding empirical evidence for CFO succession. We propose that the selection of outside successors may be contingent on the succession context and on the type of managerial role. We postulate that transferability of CFO-specific skills across firms and industries reduces impediments to selecting successors from outside the firm and industry. Empirical evidence on 145 CFO and 159 CEO changes reveals two key findings: outside CFO nominations are more frequent, and outside CFO succession has a more accentuated link with poor presuccession firm performance than outside CEO succession

An old boys' club on the threshold to becoming a professional association: The emergence and development of the association of German controllers from 1975 to 1989

This article chronicles the history of the Controller Verein, the professional association of German-speaking controllers, from 1975 to 1989. The association was founded by alumni and trainers of the Controller Akademie, the first institute for advanced studies of controlling in Germany. The article connects the development of the association to the concept of professionalisation of accounting, thereby analysing the path of an association that differs from its Anglo-American counterparts. We used data from the archives of the association, personal archives and conducted more than 20 interviews with protagonists from the association and its institutional context. The article shows how the association has experienced the tension between being an informal club and becoming the primary professional association for controllers in German-speaking countries. However, the results of this study indicate that, due to external circumstances and individual preferences, the original club character dominated the association in the period under investigation.

Establishing Continuous Change

The subject of change has never been more relevant than today, as almost every organization has to undergo radical transitions to be able to continuously change and adapt to the dynamic economic conditions. Although the ability to change continuously has been primarily associated with private corporations, it is also relevant for public organizations because this type of organizations is moving from a public administration to a market-oriented logic. Based on an institutional theory framework, this study investigates how a shift from a public-administration logic to a market-oriented logic can be accomplished to enable the organizations to change continuously. Evidence from a German federal agency shows that a radical change is a possibility to establish the abilities of continuous change because it can be associated with shifts in power structures in the organizational field to overcome inert interdependencies between contextual intra-organizational dynamics. Accordingly, our results show that not only political authorities directly can intervene in a federal agency’s business activities but also can an institutional entrepreneur engage in activities to influence contextual dynamics and mobilize external allies for her/his change project. Therefore, our results unravel how change agents and a radical change project that affected organizational members’ value commitments can contribute to the institutionalization of a new template, that is, the template of continuous change.

Interrelated Organizational Routines

This paper takes a first attempt of looking at the relation between various organizational routines and their internal dynamics. Particularly, the present paper asks how the interrelatedness of org...