Intra‐organisational management accounting for inter‐organisational control during negotiation processes

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine how the management accounting practice in an organisational unit affects the ability to conduct inter‐organisational control. Design/methodology/approach - Governmentality is used as the main theoretical basis for the interpretation of empirical data. A qualitative case study is used to gather information from an electronics company. Findings - The company enters its inter‐organisational relationships with the ambition of being in power in the relationship. To begin with, management accounting plays a central role in the negotiation process. Due to inadequate management accounting practices, the company is unable to include cost information in their response to proposals made by their suppliers during negotiations. Consequently, the cost aspect of the product fades away from negotiations as they progress. Originality/value - The study concludes that an important part of management accounting practice is to reveal the intra‐organisational cost consequences of proposals made by suppliers during negotiation processes. These cost consequences are central during negotiation processes since they will keep the focus on costs and cost improvements during the negotiation process. The study indicates that accounting technologies and the physical presence of the management accountant are not sufficient to keep costs on the agenda. Constant cost consciousness requires that the management accountant actively takes part in the joint problem solving process.