Management Control Systems and Innovation with Focus on Sustainability
(2018) BUSN79 20181Department of Business Administration
- Abstract
- Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore how the companies which have prioritized sustainability on their business agenda have designed their management control systems (MCSs) to support sustainability-driven innovation and if and how these companies are using the sustainability metrics internally within their cybernetic control systems. In order to do so, an additional purpose of our thesis was to develop a theoretical framework that clarifies the potential relationships between MCS, innovation and sustainability.
Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the thesis is built based on the literature regarding MCS, innovation, and sustainability.
Methodology: A qualitative research strategy with a multiple-case study... (More) - Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore how the companies which have prioritized sustainability on their business agenda have designed their management control systems (MCSs) to support sustainability-driven innovation and if and how these companies are using the sustainability metrics internally within their cybernetic control systems. In order to do so, an additional purpose of our thesis was to develop a theoretical framework that clarifies the potential relationships between MCS, innovation and sustainability.
Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the thesis is built based on the literature regarding MCS, innovation, and sustainability.
Methodology: A qualitative research strategy with a multiple-case study research design was used to answer the research questions.
Empirical foundation: The empirical data was collected through five semi-structured interviews from the two case companies, namely Alfa Laval and Axis. The interviews, being the primary data, were complemented with secondary data derived from the companies’ annual - and sustainability reports and official websites.
Conclusions: Results suggest that companies design their MCSs by putting more or less emphasis on different control systems in order to support the sustainability-driven innovation. However, regardless of the predominantly emphasized system within the MCS package, they should all be relatively well-designed in order to lead to the realization of the company’s sustainability goals. Furthermore, although sustainability metrics are used as indicators driving companies’ innovation and product optimization, the companies still need to develop deeper understanding of the links between sustainability elements and their business success in order to make greater use of the sustainability metrics and adjust their MCSs accordingly. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8944319
- author
- Andric, Kristina LU and Sigurgeirsson, Palmi Freyr LU
- supervisor
-
- Anders Anell LU
- organization
- alternative title
- A multiple-case study on Alfa Laval and Axis
- course
- BUSN79 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Management control systems, Innovation, Sustainability, Sustainability metrics, Triple bottom line.
- language
- English
- id
- 8944319
- date added to LUP
- 2018-07-04 12:18:50
- date last changed
- 2018-07-04 12:18:50
@misc{8944319,
abstract = {{Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to explore how the companies which have prioritized sustainability on their business agenda have designed their management control systems (MCSs) to support sustainability-driven innovation and if and how these companies are using the sustainability metrics internally within their cybernetic control systems. In order to do so, an additional purpose of our thesis was to develop a theoretical framework that clarifies the potential relationships between MCS, innovation and sustainability.
Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the thesis is built based on the literature regarding MCS, innovation, and sustainability.
Methodology: A qualitative research strategy with a multiple-case study research design was used to answer the research questions.
Empirical foundation: The empirical data was collected through five semi-structured interviews from the two case companies, namely Alfa Laval and Axis. The interviews, being the primary data, were complemented with secondary data derived from the companies’ annual - and sustainability reports and official websites.
Conclusions: Results suggest that companies design their MCSs by putting more or less emphasis on different control systems in order to support the sustainability-driven innovation. However, regardless of the predominantly emphasized system within the MCS package, they should all be relatively well-designed in order to lead to the realization of the company’s sustainability goals. Furthermore, although sustainability metrics are used as indicators driving companies’ innovation and product optimization, the companies still need to develop deeper understanding of the links between sustainability elements and their business success in order to make greater use of the sustainability metrics and adjust their MCSs accordingly.}},
author = {{Andric, Kristina and Sigurgeirsson, Palmi Freyr}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Management Control Systems and Innovation with Focus on Sustainability}},
year = {{2018}},
}