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The use of management controls in different cultural regions : an empirical study of Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Nordic practices

Malmi, Teemu LU ; Bedford, David S. ; Brühl, Rolf ; Dergård, Johan LU ; Hoozée, Sophie ; Janschek, Otto and Willert, Jeanette (2022) In Journal of Management Control 33(3). p.273-334
Abstract

Most cross-cultural studies on management control have compared Anglo-Saxon firms to Asian firms, leaving us with limited understanding of potential variations between developed Western societies. This study addresses differences and similarities in a wide variety of management control practices in Anglo-Saxon (Australia, English Canada), Germanic (Austria, non-Walloon Belgium, Germany) and Nordic firms (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unique data is collected through structured interviews from 584 strategic business units (SBUs). We find that management control structures in Anglo-Saxon SBUs, relative to those from Germanic and Nordic regions, are more decentralized and participative and place greater emphasis on performance-based... (More)

Most cross-cultural studies on management control have compared Anglo-Saxon firms to Asian firms, leaving us with limited understanding of potential variations between developed Western societies. This study addresses differences and similarities in a wide variety of management control practices in Anglo-Saxon (Australia, English Canada), Germanic (Austria, non-Walloon Belgium, Germany) and Nordic firms (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unique data is collected through structured interviews from 584 strategic business units (SBUs). We find that management control structures in Anglo-Saxon SBUs, relative to those from Germanic and Nordic regions, are more decentralized and participative and place greater emphasis on performance-based pay. Comparing Germanic SBUs to Nordic ones, we find Germanic SBUs to rely more on individual behaviour in performance evaluation, whereas Nordic SBUs rely more on quantitative measures and value alignment in employee selection. We also observe numerous similarities in MC practices between the three cultural regions. The implications of these findings for theory development are outlined.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cultural regions, Management control practices, National culture, Survey
in
Journal of Management Control
volume
33
issue
3
pages
62 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85133324249
ISSN
2191-4761
DOI
10.1007/s00187-022-00342-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e10ebee3-08e8-4449-990b-9dc8d9001621
date added to LUP
2022-10-26 09:12:50
date last changed
2022-10-26 17:00:38
@article{e10ebee3-08e8-4449-990b-9dc8d9001621,
  abstract     = {{<p>Most cross-cultural studies on management control have compared Anglo-Saxon firms to Asian firms, leaving us with limited understanding of potential variations between developed Western societies. This study addresses differences and similarities in a wide variety of management control practices in Anglo-Saxon (Australia, English Canada), Germanic (Austria, non-Walloon Belgium, Germany) and Nordic firms (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden). Unique data is collected through structured interviews from 584 strategic business units (SBUs). We find that management control structures in Anglo-Saxon SBUs, relative to those from Germanic and Nordic regions, are more decentralized and participative and place greater emphasis on performance-based pay. Comparing Germanic SBUs to Nordic ones, we find Germanic SBUs to rely more on individual behaviour in performance evaluation, whereas Nordic SBUs rely more on quantitative measures and value alignment in employee selection. We also observe numerous similarities in MC practices between the three cultural regions. The implications of these findings for theory development are outlined.</p>}},
  author       = {{Malmi, Teemu and Bedford, David S. and Brühl, Rolf and Dergård, Johan and Hoozée, Sophie and Janschek, Otto and Willert, Jeanette}},
  issn         = {{2191-4761}},
  keywords     = {{Cultural regions; Management control practices; National culture; Survey}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{273--334}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Management Control}},
  title        = {{The use of management controls in different cultural regions : an empirical study of Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Nordic practices}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00187-022-00342-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00187-022-00342-x}},
  volume       = {{33}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}