IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/fan/macoma/vhtml10.3280-maco2020-001-s1009.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CSR and management control integration. Evidence from an employee welfare plan implementation

Author

Listed:
  • Chiara Mio
  • Antonio Costantini
  • Silvia Panfilo
  • Sonia Baggio

Abstract

Relatively little research has addressed questions on how companies integrate corporate social responsibility (CSR) and management control, and this study attempts to respond to recent calls for further investigation. Taking the perspective, advanced in the extant literature, that CSR can be regarded as a form of management control, the study has the objective to show how a socially responsible initiative, such as the implementation of an employee welfare plan undertaken by a SME, can address control issues. In particular, the company has designed the employee welfare plan as an incentive system. The study adopts an interventionist research (IVR) approach to accomplish with the research objective, and the results of the interventionist case study are interpreted based on the Merchant and Van der Stede object-of-control framework. In particular, results indicate that the implementation of the welfare plan has enabled the application of different types of control and provided incentive-related benefits, suggesting the potential impact of CSR as a management control device.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara Mio & Antonio Costantini & Silvia Panfilo & Sonia Baggio, 2020. "CSR and management control integration. Evidence from an employee welfare plan implementation," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(Suppl. 1), pages 151-175.
    • Handle: RePEc:fan:macoma:v:html10.3280/maco2020-001-s1009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=65974&Tipo=ArticoloPDF
    Download Restriction: Single articles can be downloaded buying download credits, for info: https://www.francoangeli.it/DownloadCredit
    ---><---

    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. Marion Dupire & Bouchra M’Zali, 2018. "CSR Strategies in Response to Competitive Pressures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 603-623, March.
    2. David Otley & Kim Soin, 2014. "Management Control and Uncertainty," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: David Otley & Kim Soin (ed.), Management Control and Uncertainty, chapter 1, pages 1-13, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Langfield-Smith, Kim, 1997. "Management control systems and strategy: A critical review," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 207-232, February.
    4. Alvesson, Mats & Karreman, Dan, 2004. "Interfaces of control. Technocratic and socio-ideological control in a global management consultancy firm," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 423-444.
    5. Cristina Campanale & Lino Cinquini & Andrea Tenucci, 2014. "Time-driven activity-based costing to improve transparency and decision making in healthcare," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(2), pages 165-186, June.
    6. Yongrok Choi & Yanni Yu, 2014. "The Influence of Perceived Corporate Sustainability Practices on Employees and Organizational Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Diane-Laure Arjaliès & Julia Mundy, 2013. "The use of management control systems to manage CSR strategy: A levers of control perspective," Post-Print hal-00980329, HAL.
    8. Irene Eleonora Lisi & Antonella Cifalin?, 2017. "Exploring the use of Social and Environmental Performance Indicators by European companies," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(3), pages 53-54.
    9. Olle Westin & Hanno Roberts, 2010. "Interventionist research – the puberty years: an introduction to the special issue," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 7(1), pages 5-12, April.
    10. 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.
    11. Rosa Lombardi & Adriana Bruno & Giada Mainolfi & Andrea Moretta Tartaglione, 2015. "Research perspectives on corporate reputation and company?s performance measurement. An interpretive framework," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(3), pages 49-64.
    12. Gray, Rob, 2010. "Is accounting for sustainability actually accounting for sustainability...and how would we know? An exploration of narratives of organisations and the planet," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 47-62, January.
    13. David Otley, 2014. "Management Control under Uncertainty: Thinking about Uncertainty," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: David Otley & Kim Soin (ed.), Management Control and Uncertainty, chapter 6, pages 83-96, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Luciano Marchi, 2019. "Governo delle aziende e creazione di valore: da una prospettiva finanziaria ad una prospettiva economico-sociale," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 5-16.
    15. Marco Gatti & Maria Serena Chiucchi & Marco Montemari, 2018. "Management Control Systems and Integrated Reporting: Which Relationships? The Case of the Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Ospedali Riuniti Ancona," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(9), pages 169-169, August.
    16. David Murillo & Josep Lozano, 2006. "SMEs and CSR: An Approach to CSR in their Own Words," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 227-240, September.
    17. 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.
    18. Jean-Pascal Gond & Assâad El Akremi & Valérie Swaen & Nishat Babu, 2017. "The psychological microfoundations of corporate social responsibility: A person-centric systematic review," Post-Print halshs-01698534, HAL.
    19. Berry, A.J. & Coad, A.F. & Harris, E.P. & Otley, D.T. & Stringer, C., 2009. "Emerging themes in management control: A review of recent literature," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 2-20.
    20. Francesco Perrini, 2006. "SMEs and CSR Theory: Evidence and Implications from an Italian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 305-316, September.
    21. Raffaele Fiorentino & Stefano Garzella & Rita Lamboglia & Daniela Mancini, 2016. "Strategie di sostenibilit?: dalle motivazioni ai sistemi di misurazione della performance," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(2), pages 115-142.
    22. Francesco Perrini & Antonio Tencati, 2006. "Sustainability and stakeholder management: the need for new corporate performance evaluation and reporting systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 296-308, September.
    23. Kim Soin & Christian Huber & Sharon Wheatley, 2014. "Management Control and Uncertainty: Risk Management in Universities," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: David Otley & Kim Soin (ed.), Management Control and Uncertainty, chapter 12, pages 178-192, Palgrave Macmillan.
    24. Lueg, Rainer & Radlach, Ronny, 2016. "Managing sustainable development with management control systems: A literature review," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 158-171.
    25. Teemu Malmi & Markus Granlund, 2009. "In Search of Management Accounting Theory," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 597-620.
    26. Erik Strauß & Christina Zecher, 2013. "Management control systems: a review," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 233-268, February.
    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. Marco Vedovato & Antonio Costantini & Alessio Ministeri, 2021. "La valutazione del margine delle commesse pluriennali. Il caso Permasteelisa Group," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 2), pages 215-240.
    2. Paola Paoloni & Antonietta Cosentino & Barbara Iannone, 2021. "L?attitudine delle imprese al cambiamento durante le crisi sistemiche. Spunti dal settore agroalimentare," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 2), pages 241-264.
    3. Chamari Pamoshika Jayarathna & Duzgun Agdas & Les Dawes, 2024. "Viability of sustainable logistics practices enabling circular economy: A system dynamics approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3422-3439, May.
    4. Paola Vola & Lorenzo Gelmini & Lucrezia Songini, 2021. "What does the Business Model tell us about Natural Capital? Insights from African Integrated Reports," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 1), pages 75-96.

    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. Lueg, Rainer & Radlach, Ronny, 2016. "Managing sustainable development with management control systems: A literature review," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 158-171.
    2. Leanne Johnstone, 2019. "Theorising and conceptualising the sustainability control system for effective sustainability management," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 25-64, April.
    3. Madeleine Feder & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2019. "Understanding the behavioral gap: Why would managers (not) engage in CSR-related activities?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 95-126, April.
    4. Andrea Fried, 2017. "Terminological distinctions of ‘control’: a review of the implications for management control research in the context of innovation," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 5-40, February.
    5. 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.
    6. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "Effects of management control mechanisms: towards a more comprehensive analysis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 185-219, February.
    7. 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.
    8. Christian Kleine & Barbara Weißenberger, 2014. "Leadership impact on organizational commitment: the mediating role of management control systems choice," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 241-266, January.
    9. Marko Reimer & Sebastiaan Van Doorn & Mariano L. M. Heyden, 2016. "Managers and management control systems in the strategy process," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 121-127, May.
    10. Masahiro Hosoda & Kenichi Suzuki, 2015. "Using Management Control Systems to Implement CSR Activities: An Empirical Analysis of 12 Japanese Companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(7), pages 628-642, November.
    11. Eva Lövstål & Anne-Marie Jontoft, 2017. "Tensions at the intersection of management control and innovation: a literature review," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 41-79, February.
    12. Natalia Semenova, 2021. "Management control systems in response to social and environmental risk in large Nordic companies," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Widener, Sally K., 2004. "An empirical investigation of the relation between the use of strategic human capital and the design of the management control system," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(3-4), pages 377-399.
    14. Stefan N. Groesser & Niklas Jovy, 2016. "Business model analysis using computational modeling: a strategy tool for exploration and decision-making," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 61-88, February.
    15. Muhammad Haseeb & Marcin Lis & Ilham Haouas & Leonardus WW Mihardjo, 2019. "The Mediating Role of Business Strategies between Management Control Systems Package and Firms Stability: Evidence from SMEs in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-20, August.
    16. Smith, Steven D. & Thomas, Tyler F., 2024. "The effects of strategic alignment and strategic clarity on multidimensional task performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. Matolcsy, Zoltan & Wakefield, James, 2017. "Multinational headquarter control of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 275-293.
    18. Jetta Frost & Rick Vogel & Khaled Bagban, 2016. "Managing Interdependence in Multi-business Organizations," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 17(2), pages 225-260, August.
    19. Nicoletta Fadda & Gianfranco Pischedda & Ludovico Marin? & katia Corsi, 2021. "Sustainable-oriented management come fattore di resilienza organizzativa. Un caso di studio," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(2), pages 39-60.
    20. Leanne Johnstone, 2021. "Facilitating sustainability control in SMEs through the implementation of an environmental management system," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 559-605, December.

    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:fan:macoma:v:html10.3280/maco2020-001-s1009. 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: Stefania Rosato (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/sommario.aspx?IDRivista=166 .

    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.