a b s t r a c t This review starts from the lines of enquiry suggested by Otley et al. [Otley, D.T., Broadbent, J.M., Berry, A.J., 1995. Research in management control: an overview of its development. British Journal of Management 6, S31-S34] and develops these themes in the light of more recently published research. Hence this review is structured around the following emerging themes; Decision making for Strategic Control; Performance Management for Strategic Control; Control Models for Performance Management and Measurement; Management Control and New Forms of Organisation; Control and Risk; Culture and Control; and Practice and Theory.Whilst research has been evident in all of these areas, relatively little attention has been paid to information and communication technologies and its impact upon control system design and capability, nor did we find much literature on control and gender, or on control and sustainability. Further there has been relatively little research on control and risk or upon control and culture. The limitations of overarching frameworks are noted and we conclude that it seems essential to place more emphasis on research which attends to the relationship of control practices and theory which will require more embedded and collaborative research processes.

This study focuses on processes employed by organisational managers making strategic investment decisions (SIDs) in an environment of extreme uncertainty in post-revolution Egypt.Our study illustrates how significant social, political and economic uncertainty impacts upon the utility of capital investment appraisal techniques employed in management accounting decision-making. To engage in this analysis, we employ strong structuration theory as a lens to examine how local Egyptian managers (agents-in-focus) respond to the impact of emergent structures that emanate from the post-revolutionary context in their strategic investment decision-making (SIDM). Our empirical evidence includes focused interviews with twenty-one local managers to understand the experience of accounting for decision-making under extreme uncertainty. Our analysis demonstrates that non-financial considerations and objectives take precedence over the technical 'accounting' measures, for example net present value (NPV) in post-revolution SIDM processes. In particular, recognising and responding to shifting labour power and short-term sacrifices (such as rejecting merger opportunities) become comparatively more important than the pre-supposed rationality of the NPV criteria. However, as multinational corporations insist on the calculation of NPV by their Egyptian subsidiaries, local managers reproduce the imperfect NPV as a communication tool in relation to capital investment decisions, whilst resisting its persuasiveness in favour of more qualitative criteria.

Purpose-In the field of strategic investment decision-making (SIDM) a body of research has grown up via international case studies and organisation-based fieldwork. However, there has been little systematic theorisation around SIDM processes and practices. This paper aims to show how strong structuration theory (SST) can be employed to guide how future SIDM studies are conducted and theorised. Design/methodology/approach-We draw upon the concepts from SST to reanalyse prior empirically based work. We apply SST-informed analysis to four SIDM case studies selected from the total of 18 published over the period 1970-2016 to explore the utility of SST compared with other approaches. Findings-Our analysis highlights the role of agents' knowledgeability and position-practice relations in strategic investment decision-making, which has largely been neglected by prior studies. We demonstrate the potential of SST to inform meso-level SIDM theorising by applying it to four published case studies. Whilst we argue for the adoption of SST, we also identify key methodological and conceptual issues in using SST in SIDM research. Research limitations/implications-Our examples and recommendations could assist management accounting researchers, particularly those engaged in case studies and organisational fieldwork, to build knowledge via the improved comparison, integration and theorisation of cases undertaken by different researchers in different contexts. Originality/value-We offer a bridge between SST concepts and case study evidence for theorising, carrying out and analysing case study and field research on SIDM.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the capital investment process, guided by concepts from cognitive and social psychology. The intention is to gauge the extent to which managerial judgement can be detected by applying a psychological lens to the process. Initial fieldwork is subsequently reported on the extent to which managerial judgement is managed. Discovery of variations suggest an alternative perspective on understanding capital investment decisions (CIDs) that may be potentially worthwhile in understanding the long‐term success and survival of modern commercial enterprises.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a systematic review, employing the psychological concepts of heuristics, framing and concensus to prior case and fieldwork studies, the CID process in three companies engaged in new market/site development projects is reported. The participants initially responded to a survey and subsequently agreed to be interviewed about their processes and involvement.FindingsThe psychological concepts provided a satisfactory gauge of managerial judgement. The fieldwork revealed variety in the management of the CID process and the influence of managerial judgement.Research limitations/implicationsThere is an increasing call to examine the CID by case or fieldwork but, to date, the role managerial judgement plays has not been directly addressed. Applying psychological concepts to the CID process offers an opportunity to focus enquiries and improve understanding of corporate practices.Practical implicationsThe relative reliance companies place on heuristics, framing and consensus within their specific organizational contexts ultimately may provide insights to the long‐term survival of companies.Originality/valueThe paper provides useful information on the cognitive and social psychology in the capital investment process.

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