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This study analyses the role of accounting information in negotiating contractual relationships in the framework of circuits of power during a competitive tendering process. The study asks how institutionalised accounting information affects taken‐for‐granted ways of thinking and acting by institutional actors in negotiating inter‐organisational order when analysed using the framework of circuits of power. Field research took place in a Finnish not‐for‐profit aged care organisation and municipality from 2008 to 2012. The study shows that institutionalised accounting information cannot be taken‐for‐granted to prevail in obligatory passage points of the circuits of power in negotiating order.

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The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the management accounting literature by reviewing how previous studies conceptualised the relationship between sustainability reporting and management control systems, analysing the main themes and discussing potential future developments of the sustainability reporting and management control systems (SRMCS) research agenda. This study builds on the structured literature review method by categorising and synthesising 15 years of research into the topic “sustainability reporting and management control”. Approximately 500 relevant articles were identified in the first round of searching Google Scholar and Scopus with the selected keywords, but after filtering and manual assessment, 45 articles were selected for the full review. Coding reliability was maintained with the K-alpha test. Our findings divulge that the researcher looks at the management control and the sustainability reporting agenda with just one eye. They either focus on management control or sustainability reporting. Very little research focuses on relationships. In addition, from the methodological point of view, we found that qualitative case studies and interviews dominate the field, together with commentary papers. We proposed a framework showing a complex and multifaceted relationship (a spider diagram) to conceptualise the synthesis of the literature. This framework is intended as a blueprint for the relationship between sustainability reporting and management control in order to design and redesign a company’s internal strategies on management control systems (MCS).

IntroductionFlexibility in working life, including non-standard employment (NSE) and flexible work arrangements (FWAs), offers the organisation a better ability to adapt to changing conditions while also posing considerable challenges for organisations as well as workers. The aim of the Flexible Work: Opportunity and Challenge (FLOC) study is to investigate associations between NSE and FWA on the one hand, and individual, social and economic sustainability on the other.Methods and analysisThis prospective open cohort study targets approximately 8000 workers 18–65 years old in 8–10 public and private organisations in Sweden. We will use a comprehensive battery of measurement methods addressing financial performance, physical and psychosocial exposures, and physical and mental health, both at the organisational and the individual level. Methods include valid survey questionnaires and register data, and, in subpopulations, technical measurements, interviews and diaries. Main exposures are type of employment and type of work arrangement. Main outcomes are indicators of social and economic sustainability and, at the individual level, health and well-being. Data, collected over 54 months at approximately 18-month intervals, will be analysed using multivariate methods considering main effects as well as potential effect modifiers. The analyses will take into account that respondents are nested in organisations, divisions and/or have specific managers.Ethics and disseminationFLOC is approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (decision numbers 2019–06220, 2020–06094 and 2021–02725). Data will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences, and researchers will assist the organisations in improving policies and routines for employment and organisation of work.