IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/euract/v12y2003i3p515-547.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring notions of control across cultures: a narrative approach

Author

Listed:
  • Tobias Scheytt
  • Kim Soin
  • Thomas Metz

Abstract

It can be argued that the concept of control is one of the most important and yet complex notions of management accounting theory and practice. Despite its importance, it is not fully understood in terms of its significance in an international context. Using an interpretive approach and against the background of structuration theory, this paper explores and identifies differences in notions of control across European cultures. The empirical research is based on samples of narratives of personal experiences taken from respondents in four European countries: Austria, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The results indicate that control is influenced by, and deeply embedded in, the cultural context of the respective countries. This has implications for the transfer of management accounting and control knowledge across different European countries and suggests that one has to be aware of the existence, meaning and significance of the differences and characteristics of the regional culture. In an era of internationalization and standardization, this paper responds to calls (Hopwood, 1999) for research, which emphasizes the importance of attempts to understand how the practices of management accounting and control are differentiated in relation to regional cultures.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Scheytt & Kim Soin & Thomas Metz, 2003. "Exploring notions of control across cultures: a narrative approach," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 515-547.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:12:y:2003:i:3:p:515-547
    DOI: 10.1080/0963818032000103015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0963818032000103015
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/0963818032000103015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bhimani, Alnoor, 1996. "Management Accounting: European Perspectives," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198289661, Decembrie.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9497 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas, 2014. "Structuration theory in accounting research: Applications and applicability," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 162-180.
    3. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas & Burns, John, 2011. "25 Years of Giddens in accounting research: Achievements, limitations and the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 494-513.
    4. Constable, Philip & Kuasirikun, Nooch, 2020. "From cosmological to commercial form: A Buddhist theory of ‘form’, ‘space’ and ‘stream of re-becoming’ in mid-19th century Thai accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Christoph Endenich & Michael Brandau & Andreas Hoffjan, 2011. "Two Decades of Research on Comparative Management Accounting – Achievements and Future Directions," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 21(4), pages 365-382, December.
    6. Vassili Joannides & Danture Wickramasinghe & Nicolas Berland, 2012. "Critiques On Gray-Hofstede'S Model: What Impact On Cross-Cultural Accounting Research?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00690933, HAL.
    7. Vassili Joannides & Danture Wickramasinghe & Nicolas Berland, 2012. "Critiques On Gray-Hofstede'S Model: What Impact On Cross-Cultural Accounting Research?," Post-Print hal-00690933, HAL.
    8. Vassili Joannides & Danture Wickramasinghe & Nicolas Berland, 2012. "Critiques on gray-hofstede’s model: what impact on cross-cultural accounting research?," Post-Print hal-01661667, HAL.
    9. Vassili Joannides & Danture Wickramasinghe & Nicolas Berland, 2012. "Critiques on gray-hofstede’s model: what impact on cross-cultural accounting research?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01661667, HAL.
    10. Moore, David R.J., 2011. "Structuration theory: The contribution of Norman Macintosh and its application to emissions trading," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 212-227.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lino Cinquini & Andrea Tenucci, 2011. "Management Accounting for Service: A Research Agenda," Working Papers 201102, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, Istituto di Management.
    2. Hoque, Zahirul, 2014. "20 years of studies on the balanced scorecard: Trends, accomplishments, gaps and opportunities for future research," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 33-59.
    3. Anne Pezet, 2007. "Les "french tableaux de bord" (1885-1975)," Post-Print halshs-00544878, HAL.
    4. John Brierley & Christopher Cowton & Colin Drury, 2001. "Research into product costing practice: a European perspective," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 215-256.
    5. Andreas Hoffjan & Rouven Trapp & Christoph Endenich & Thomas Boucoiran, 2012. "International budgeting—challenges for German-French companies," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 5-25, September.
    6. Alena Golyagina & Danielius Valuckas, 2016. "Representation of knowledge on some management accounting techniques in textbooks," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 479-501, September.
    7. Salvador Carmona & Isabel Gutierrez & Macario Camara, 1999. "A profile of European accounting research: evidence from leading research journals," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 463-480.
    8. Christoph Endenich & Michael Brandau & Andreas Hoffjan, 2011. "Two Decades of Research on Comparative Management Accounting – Achievements and Future Directions," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 21(4), pages 365-382, December.
    9. repec:dau:papers:123456789/2179 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Flavius-Andrei GUINEA, 2016. "Study regarding the impact of cultural factors on management accounting systems," The Audit Financiar journal, Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania, vol. 14(144), pages 1359-1359.
    11. Toomas Haldma & Kertu Laats, 2002. "Influencing Contingencies On Management Accounting Practices In Estonian Manufacturing Companies," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 13, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).
    12. Oriol Amat & John Blake & Philip Wraith, 1999. "Environmental factors giving rise to variations in national management accounting practice," Economics Working Papers 432, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    13. Pavel Lebedev, 2019. "Main Drivers of the Evolution of Management Accounting Concept in Russia: Global Ambitions vs. Local Way," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 17(4 (Winter), pages 289-316.
    14. Drury, Colin & Tayles, Mike, 2006. "Profitability analysis in UK organizations: An exploratory study," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 405-425.
    15. Flavius-Andrei Guinea, 2016. "Creativity in Managerial Accounting: the Syndrome of Clone-type Production Costs," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 515-520, February.
    16. Luca Del Bene & Fabio Fiorillo & Iacopo Cavallini & Beatrice Caporaletti, 2019. "Accounting change negli enti locali. Quali condizioni per il miglioramento nell?ottica gestionale?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(3), pages 59-78.
    17. George Angelakis & Nikolaos Theriou & Iordanis Floropoulos & Athanasios Mandilas, 2015. "Traditional and Currently Developed Management Accounting Practices - A Greek Study," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(3), pages 52-87.
    18. Jose L. Arquero & Trevor Hassall & John Joyce & Jose A. Donoso, 2007. "Accounting Students and Communication Apprehension: A Study of Spanish and UK Students," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 299-322.
    19. Simon Alcouffe & Jonathan Maurice & Nadine Galy & Loïc Gate, 2019. "Is the limited diffusion of management accounting innovations really a paradox? A meta-analysis of the relationship between product diversity and the adoption of Activity-Based Costing [La faible d," Post-Print hal-02124677, HAL.
    20. Francesca Francioli, 2018. "Strategic performance management systems in Italian banks. A research note," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2), pages 155-178.
    21. Anna Pistoni & Laura Zoni, 2000. "Comparative management accounting in Europe: an undergraduate education perspective," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(2), pages 285-319.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:12:y:2003:i:3:p:515-547. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/REAR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.