IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ebg/iesewp/d-0598.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Designing management control systems in product development: Initial choices and the influence of partners

Author

Listed:
  • Davila, Toni

    (IESE Business School)

  • Foster, George

    (Stanford University)

  • Li, Mu

    (Applied Micro Devices)

Abstract

Management control systems can hinder innovation. However, recent theoretical and empirical work indicates that these systems can also enhance it. Using two sequential empirical studies, this paper investigates this question. The first uses a field research design to examine the adoption of management control systems in the product development function of entrepreneurial firms. The data comes from questionnaires and interviews with the CEOs, financial officers, and business development managers of 69 firms. Analysis of the qualitative data indicates that managers adopt these systems not so much to fulfill a particular role as to solve particular needs that they face. These needs range from external contracting and legitimizing the process with external parties to internal drivers such as managers' background, learning by doing, need to focus, or reaction to problems. Furthermore, these reasons are associated with faster adoption of these systems and with product development performance. The objective of the second study is to extend and generalize the finding regarding the influence of external parties on management control system adoption to a population of mature firms. Using a survey design, the study finds an association between the importance of partners to product development and the level of formalization of management control systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Davila, Toni & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2005. "Designing management control systems in product development: Initial choices and the influence of partners," IESE Research Papers D/598, IESE Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebg:iesewp:d-0598
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/DI-0598-E.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van der Meer-Kooistra, Jeltje & Vosselman, Ed G. J., 2000. "Management control of interfirm transactional relationships: the case of industrial renovation and maintenance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 51-77, January.
    2. Cohen, Michael D, et al, 1996. "Routines and Other Recurring Action Patterns of Organizations: Contemporary Research Issues," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(3), pages 653-698.
    3. Carruthers, Bruce G., 1995. "Accounting, ambiguity, and the new institutionalism," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 313-328, May.
    4. Billie Jo Zirger & Modesto A. Maidique, 1990. "A Model of New Product Development: An Empirical Test," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(7), pages 867-883, July.
    5. Gordon, Lawrence A. & Narayanan, V. K., 1984. "Management accounting systems, perceived environmental uncertainty and organization structure: An empirical investigation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 33-47, January.
    6. Akbar Zaheer & Bill McEvily & Vincenzo Perrone, 1998. "Does Trust Matter? Exploring the Effects of Interorganizational and Interpersonal Trust on Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 141-159, April.
    7. Thomas Ahrens & Christopher S. Chapman, 2004. "Accounting for Flexibility and Efficiency: A Field Study of Management Control Systems in a Restaurant Chain," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 271-301, June.
    8. Laura B. Cardinal, 2001. "Technological Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Use of Organizational Control in Managing Research and Development," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 19-36, February.
    9. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Brownell, Peter, 1997. "Management control systems in research and development organizations: The role of accounting, behavior and personnel controls," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(3-4), pages 233-248.
    10. Moores, Ken & Yuen, Susana, 2001. "Management accounting systems and organizational configuration: a life-cycle perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(4-5), pages 351-389.
    11. Chapman, Christopher S., 1998. "Accountants in organisational networks," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(8), pages 737-766, November.
    12. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Lillis, Anne M., 1995. "The impact of manufacturing flexibility on management control system design," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 241-258, May.
    13. Deborah Dougherty, 1992. "Interpretive Barriers to Successful Product Innovation in Large Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 179-202, May.
    14. Dekker, Henri C., 2004. "Control of inter-organizational relationships: evidence on appropriation concerns and coordination requirements," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 27-49, January.
    15. Anderson, Shannon W. & Hesford, James W. & Young, S. Mark, 2002. "Factors influencing the performance of activity based costing teams: a field study of ABC model development time in the automobile industry," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 195-211, April.
    16. Martha S. Feldman & Anat Rafaeli, 2002. "Organizational Routines as Sources of Connections and Understandings," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 309-331, May.
    17. Thomas Hellmann & Manju Puri, 2002. "Venture Capital and the Professionalization of Start‐Up Firms: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 169-197, February.
    18. Simons, Robert, 1987. "Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 357-374, June.
    19. Kalagnanam, Suresh S. & Lindsay, R. Murray, 1999. "The use of organic models of control in JIT firms: generalising Woodward's findings to modern manufacturing practices," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 1-30, January.
    20. Jackson, Susan E. & Schuler, Randall S., 1985. "A meta-analysis and conceptual critique of research on role ambiguity and role conflict in work settings," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 16-78, August.
    21. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    22. George P. Huber, 1991. "Organizational Learning: The Contributing Processes and the Literatures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 88-115, February.
    23. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    24. Abernethy, Margaret A. & Brownell, Peter, 1999. "The role of budgets in organizations facing strategic change: an exploratory study," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 189-204, April.
    25. Chenhall, Robert H., 2003. "Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 127-168.
    26. Ditillo, Angelo, 2004. "Dealing with uncertainty in knowledge-intensive firms: the role of management control systems as knowledge integration mechanisms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 401-421.
    27. Bisbe, Josep & Otley, David, 2004. "The effects of the interactive use of management control systems on product innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 709-737, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Davila, Antonio & Foster, George & Li, Mu, 2009. "Reasons for management control systems adoption: Insights from product development systems choice by early-stage entrepreneurial companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 322-347, April.
    2. Ellen Haustein & Robert Luther & Peter Schuster, 2014. "Management control systems in innovation companies: a literature based framework," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 343-382, February.
    3. Nikolaos Theriou & Vassilis Aggelidis, 2014. "Management Accounting Systems, Top Management Team’s Risk Characteristics and Their Effect on Strategic Change," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(2), pages 3-38.
    4. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    5. Maria Cadiz Dyball & Andy Fengfei Wang, 2017. "The Links Among Characteristics, Controls And Performance Of Inter-Firm Innovation Projects," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(06), pages 1-33, August.
    6. Müller-Stewens, Benedikt & Widener, Sally K. & Möller, Klaus & Steinmann, Jan-Christoph, 2020. "The role of diagnostic and interactive control uses in innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Adler, Paul S. & Chen, Clara Xiaoling, 2011. "Combining creativity and control: Understanding individual motivation in large-scale collaborative creativity," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 63-85, February.
    8. Henri, Jean-Francois, 2006. "Management control systems and strategy: A resource-based perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 529-558, August.
    9. Chenhall, Robert H., 2003. "Management control systems design within its organizational context: findings from contingency-based research and directions for the future," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 127-168.
    10. Davila, Tony, 2005. "An exploratory study on the emergence of management control systems: formalizing human resources in small growing firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 223-248, April.
    11. Bedford, David S. & Malmi, Teemu & Sandelin, Mikko, 2016. "Management control effectiveness and strategy: An empirical analysis of packages and systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 12-28.
    12. Cooper, Christine, 2015. "Entrepreneurs of the self: The development of management control since 1976," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 14-24.
    13. Hall, Matthew, 2010. "Accounting information and managerial work," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28539, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Cuguero, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2011. "The next generation of management control systems: Justice and fairness as antecedents for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/917, IESE Business School.
    15. Hall, Matthew, 2010. "Accounting information and managerial work," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 301-315, April.
    16. Cuguero-Escofet, Natalia & Rosanas, Josep M., 2012. "The just design and use of management control systems as requirements for goal congruence," IESE Research Papers D/949, IESE Business School.
    17. Luft, Joan & Shields, Michael D., 2003. "Mapping management accounting: graphics and guidelines for theory-consistent empirical research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 169-249.
    18. Gerdin, Jonas & Greve, Jan, 2008. "The appropriateness of statistical methods for testing contingency hypotheses in management accounting research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 995-1009.
    19. Antonio Leotta & Carmela Rizza & Daniela Ruggeri, 2018. "Constructing servitization strategies. Accounting information in supporting NPD processes," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2 Suppl.), pages 53-81.
    20. Ana Filipa Roque, 2018. "Control Systems and Strategy: A Literature Review," GATR Journals jmmr201, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    management control systems; product development; innovation;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ebg:iesewp:d-0598. 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: Noelia Romero (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ienaves.html .

    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.