Putting Sustainability Talk into Managerial Action : A Study of Norwegian Firms’ Sustainability Integration into Management Control Systems and its Relation to Financial Performance

The pursuit of sustainable development has become one of the most important challenges and consequently a central concern for companies. Often, that concern is addressed via an outsideoriented approach, focusing on communication and sustainability disclosure. This thesis aims to shift the focus from an external perspective to the internalization of sustainability into decision-making. Specifically, we examine the integration of sustainability into management control systems (MCS). Through a comprehensive analysis of 166 Norwegian companies that participated in a ‘state of sustainability’ survey of S-HUB Norway, we assessed the extent of sustainability integration and developed patterns of formal and informal controls. The patterns reflect that controls are not isolated tools but interplay in a diverse manner. Our findings suggest that sustainability is only moderately integrated into the MCS, with a focus on a longterm strategic perspective and a lack of concrete measures and actions. Moreover, we examined the relationship between integration depth and financial performance, considering the tension between sustainability and profitability in academia and practice. By supplementing the sustainability data with archival financial data in a regression analysis, we found a short-term negative relationship – especially in the case of financially bad performing companies and for the integration into formal controls. This negative relationship could be attributed to a restriction effect, in which an excessive number of formal or irrelevant sustainability controls are counterproductive to the financial optimization of management decisions. Another explanation for the negative relationship might be the short-term nature of our study, representing its major limitation. The potential for positive long-term effects, coupled with the inevitably growing importance of sustainability, underscores the need for proactive measures and for the adaption of internal processes.nhhma

The evolution of management control system in the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of the thesis is to go deep into the management contro system and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on it. The first chapter provides an overview of management control system, its functions, its responsible subjects and its techniques, highlighting its different types. In the second chapter is presented the role of management control system in the COVID-19 emergency. A focus is done on the impact of remote working, the role of budgeting and the consequent employee stress during pandemic. The third and fourth chapter are about my case study of a firm in which I try to investigate, with a small questionaire with open and close question, the impact of management control system in the pandemic. To conclude, are provided some insights and final observations.The purpose of the thesis is to go deep into the management contro system and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on it. The first chapter provides an overview of management control system, its functions, its responsible subjects and its techniques, highlighting its different types. In the second chapter is presented the role of management control system in the COVID-19 emergency. A focus is done on the impact of remote working, the role of budgeting and the consequent employee stress during pandemic. The third and fourth chapter are about my case study of a firm in which I try to investigate, with a small questionaire with open and close question, the impact of management control system in the pandemic. To conclude, are provided some insights and final observations

Viable system model and the project management

The application of Viable System Model to project management structure has been hardly done in the literature. This research aims to fill the lack between the projects management and the analysis of VSM by using the guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK), sixth edition, as a diagnostic analysis tool for assessing the viability. The research is based on a modified Viable System Model for the analysis of systems. The research establishes how PMBOK can cover the requirements for an application of Viable System Model in the project management field. The research is focused on to determine the significance and potential use of PMBOK as a tool, which methodology might link Viable System Model and the project management.La aplicación del Modelo de Sistemas Viables a la estructura de la gestión de proyectos apenas se ha tratado en la literatura especializada. Este trabajo tiene como objetivo cubrir la falta existente entre la gestión de proyectos y el análisis del Modelo de Sistemas Viables. Para ello, se utiliza la Guía de los Fundamentos para la Dirección de Proyectos (PMBOK), sexta edición, como herramienta de análisis de la estimación de la viabilidad. La investigación llevada a cabo se basa en un Modelo de Sistemas Viables modificado para el análisis de sistemas, donde se establece cómo el PMBOK puede cubrir los requisitos de la aplicación del Modelo de Sistemas Viables en el campo de la gestión de proyectos. El trabajo presentado se centra en la relevancia y el uso del PMBOK como un instrumento que aspira a vincular ambos campos.Departamento de Organización de Empresas y Comercialización e Investigación de MercadosMáster en Dirección de Proyecto

Management Control Systems in the Internet-enabled Business Models : A Case-study on control dynamics: unravelling the interplay within an open-source business model and its ecosystem

This study builds on two concepts: management control (MC) and Internet-enabled business model (IEBM).MC is a wide set of formal or informal mechanisms that the management has implemented for aligning people’s behaviour towards the set organisational goals and answering to control needs that arise from the business environment. In this study, the focus is on a business model context-driven set of controls. Unlike in the discussion of MC as a system is typical, I use the word system to describe such management control that is implemented by the company management for aligning employees’ behaviour towards the strategic targets. In the IEBM, the Internet is crucial infrastructure and enabler for existence. The choice of technology made by company management divides IEBMs into utilisers of paid and free technology. Value creation and capture can only realise by acting as part of an ecosystem of the same technology users. Technology, the ecosystem, value creation mechanisms, and innovation are the central attributes that describe IEBMs. Those significantly affect the design of MCS as well. However, whilst the MCS literature has concentrated on strategic features of innovation and development, the IEBM level of decisions and the MCS package designed because of them, has not yet been explored much in the MCS literature. The case company of this interpretive study is a free technology software developer for system coders globally. This study contributes to our existing knowledge by showing that the MCS package design is two-fold: MCS for the behavioural control within the organisation, and MCS for the external actors in the ecosystem. Further, the MCS package for the organisation is designed around three main control questions: ensuring value creation and capture, diminishing risks, and enabling of innovation. In addition, the package has another layer, where IEBM control systems aim in the direction of external actors, the ecosystem. That layer builds on a strong organisational culture, some very labelling activity, an anchor/core practice, and also on such social, technical, economic, and institutional minimal structures, which provide governance but allow considerable independence at the same. Those structures govern the ecosystem and the IEBM reciprocally.Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastelen yrityksen ohjausjärjestelmiä (management control, MC) Internet-pohjaisen liiketoimintamallin (Internet-enabled business model, IEBM) johtamisessa. Ohjausjärjestelmät ovat virallisia tai epävirallisia käytänteitä, jotka yritysjohto on käyttöönottanut. Niiden tarkoituksena on edistää määriteltyjen tavoitteiden saavuttamista ohjaamalla ja yhtenäistämällä työntekijöiden käyttäytymistä organisaatiossa. Tässä tutkimuksessa käsittelen ohjausjärjestelmiä ensisijaisesti Internet-liiketoimintamallin näkökulmasta. Käytän sanaa järjestelmä (system) kuvaamaan sellaista ohjausta, joka on yrityksen johdon toteuttamaa, ohjaa työntekijöiden käyttäytymistä, ja joka ohjaa kohti organisaation strategisia tavoitteita. Internet-pohjaisella liiketoimintamallilla tarkoitan liiketoimintamallia, jossa Internet on elinehto. Yritysjohto voi valita maksullisen tai maksuttoman teknologian käytön liiketoimintamalliinsa. Teknologia on avainasemassa, ja arvonluonti onnistuu vain toimimalla osana samaa teknologiaa käyttävien toimijoiden ekosysteemiä. Teknologia ja sen mukanaan tuoma ekosysteemi, arvonluonnin mekanismit, sekä innovatiivisten tuotteiden ja palveluiden kehittäminen ovat IEBM’ien keskeisimpiä piirteitä. Nämä vaikuttavat oleellisesti ohjausjärjestelmien kokonaispakettiin (MCS package), mutta tätä yhteyttä ei ole MC-kirjallisuudessa juurikaan tutkittu. Tämän tulkitsevan tutkimuksen tapausyritys käyttää maksutonta teknologiaa kehittäessään ohjelmistotuotteita maailman järjestelmäkoodareille. Tutkimus osoittaa, että ohjausjärjestelmien paketissa on kahden tasoisia järjestelmiä, käyttäytymistä organisaation sisällä ohjaavia sekä ekosysteemin ohjausta tavoittelevia. Organisaation sisäistä käyttäytymistä ohjaavat järjestelmät keskittyvät kolmeen ohjaustarpeeseen: arvonluontiin, riskien pienentämiseen ja innovaatioiden mahdollistamiseen. Ekosysteemin toimijoihin, eli yrityksen rajojen ulkopuolelle, suuntautuva ohjaus rakentuu vahvalle organisaatiokulttuurille. Lisäksi ankkuri-/ydinkäytäntö liittää organisaation koko toiminnan tiiviisti ympäristöönsä. Sosiaaliset, tekniset, taloudelliset ja institutionaaliset minimaaliset rakenteet, jotka toisaalta ohjaavat, mutta samalla sallivat laajan itsenäisen toiminnan, luovat vastavuoroisen ohjausjärjestelmän liiketoimintamallin ja ekosysteemin välille

Chains and chain reactions : study of management control systems in Norwegian IT offshoring to Ukraine

Masteroppgave i bedriftsøkonomi - Universitetet i Nordland, 201

An attempt to go beyond conventional financial accounting information

Conventional financial accounting information is slanted in favour of certain economic interests. This paper argues in favour of accounting information capturing and showing relevant aspects of the economic-social situation, and of decision-making based on it allowing for decisions to be taken with economic-social, and not purely economic-weighted, awareness.Social accounting, externalities, social costs, human resources, company social responsability

Management of a supplier collaboration - The usage of control and coordination mechanisms

The objective of this study was to understand how in a buyer-supplier relationship the collaboration of a buyer and a supplier is managed from the buyer's perspective, in terms of what kind of control and coordination mechanisms are used for it and why. This objective was selected due to an interest to the contemporary business landscape, where various kinds of alliances and inter-firm relationships are increasingly common, and thus the understanding how alliances are, or should be, managed is a key capability in today's business world. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study, in which it was studied how a large Finnish MNC manages the collaboration with one of its Chinese suppliers. Three theoretical frameworks were used: two higher level frameworks and one detailed framework. The first higher level framework consisted of the coordination mechanisms from Bartlett and Ghoshal (2002), while the second one comprised higher level control typologies, often divided into market, hierarchical and some alternative patterns. The third, detailed framework was an inter-firm management control systems (MCS) package, which was constructed by utilizing MCS control package from Malmi and Brown (2008) as a basis. It can be concluded that there was a clear benefit from utilizing several theoretical frameworks, since they supported each other in discovering the main findings. The results of the study show that almost all of the detailed control mechanisms included in the inter-firm MCS package were found to be in use in the studied case. This finding is new in the sense that this kind of inter-firm MCS package has not been used earlier for analyzing inter-firm relationships. It was also discovered, that it depends on whether the relationship is looked at as a whole, or only some subarea of it, how large portfolio of control and coordination mechanisms is in use. Finally, based on the finding showing that all control typologies were present simultaneously for managing the collaboration, it is suggested to extend the inter-firm MCS package constructed based on the model from Malmi and Brown (2008) by adding market control into it. This makes it more applicable in inter-firm settings. For the reasons why all the control typologies - hierarchy, market and relationship control - were present simultaneously, the argument from Van Der Meer-Kooistra and Scapens (2008) claiming that in an inter-firm setting there may be several paradoxes that need to be managed, was supported by the findings. While the different characteristics of the subareas of the relationship were the reason for utilizing different portfolio of control mechanisms for them

Constructions of teaching in an elite university: A case study

A case study research was conducted to identify constructs of undergraduate teaching in an elite, research-intensive university. Qualitative data collection and analysis involving transcripts from over 40 semi-structured interviews with heads of teaching committees from each department or faculty of the university as well as heads of several other committees and other key stakeholders was carried out. In the analysis, use was made too of relevant archival materials, publicly available data from the university, and governmental reports or documents. The university offers courses to its undergraduate students that range from interdisciplinary to very discipline-specific and operates a system of personalised tuitions that is at the heart, and thereby defines, excellent teaching. The high quality of its students, who are attracted by the research renown of the university, is regarded as the trademark of the elite institution. Culturally, the sense-making that supports the procedures and structures of the university is based on the assumption that excellent teachers are intrinsically associated with excellent research. Consequently, teaching excellence is recognised but is less well rewarded or acknowledged as compared to research. Excellence in teaching is further constrained by organisation-wide arrangements in academic staff promotion that favour research. Operating in a super-complex contemporary higher education landscape, this elite university projects a "mirror-image" of itself both externally and internally, the mirror image itself being justified by the ongoing undergraduate achievements and application rates. Great reliance is placed on external examiners to monitor the high standards of achievement, the effect of which is to stifle collegiality about teaching. Institutional governance structures and procedures enable the organisation to operate a cybernetic (selfcorrecting) model of organisational control, where change is perceived as adjustments: incremental and subtle