Purpose -This paper examines how the management control practices of organization members enables the alignment of product development projects with potentially conflicting corporate strategies during the product development process.Methodology/approach -Using an ethnomethodology informed research approach we carry out a case study of an innovative New Zealand food company. Case study data included an internal company document, interviews with organization members from new product development (NPD), marketing and finance functions as well as an external market analysis document focused on our case study company and its market.Findings -Our case study company had both sales growth and profit growth corporate strategies which have been argued to cause tensions. We found that organization members at our case study company used four management control practices to enable the alignment of product development projects to these strategies. The first management control practice was having the NPD and marketing functions responsible for different corporate strategies. Other management control practices included the involvement of organization members from across multiple functions, the activities they carried out, and the measures used to evaluate project performance during the product development process. Research limitations/implications -These finding add new insights to the management accounting literature by showing how a combination of management control practices can be used by organization members to align projects with potentially conflicting corporate strategies during the product development process.Practical implications -While the alignment of product development projects to corporate strategy is not easy this study shows how it can be enabled through the use of a number of management control practices.Originality/value -We contribute to the management accounting research in this area by extending our understanding of how organization members use management control practices during the product development process.

Purpose This paper aims to understand the strategic management of innovation by examining the effect that management control systems (MCS) have on innovation activities during the strategic change process. Design/methodology/approach A case study was carried out at an innovative company as they undertook a strategic change from closed innovation to open innovation. Simons’ levers of control was used to frame the ways in which MCS were designed and used by managers and the effect MCS have on the innovation activities of organization members. Findings The findings indicate that while managers designed and used MCS to support a drive toward open innovation, organization members did not change their innovation activities. Instead, the findings show that new MCS enabled improvements to their closed innovation strategy. This led to a decrease in the time taken to develop new products, which resulted in increased customer satisfaction, which contributed to the achievement of organizational goals. Originality/value By focusing on the relationship between MCS and innovation activities in the strategic change process, the paper sheds new light on the ability of MCS to change the innovation activities of organization members. Even though the innovation activities at our case company did not change the interactions between the MCS enabled organizational goals to be achieved as they provided the necessary information infrastructure and motivated goal congruence.

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:393177 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.i Using external environmental reporting to embed sustainability into organisational practicesPurpose -This paper explores the relationship between external environmental reporting (EER) and internal strategies, processes and activities (ISPA) to understand the role EER plays in embedding sustainability into organisational practices.Design/methodology/approach -The case study considered how carbon measures associated with the carbon emissions management and reporting scheme (CEMARS) embedded sustainability into organisational practices in a family-owned wine company. Evidence collected during semi-structured interviews with informed employees was triangulated with observational data, field notes and documentary evidence.Findings -We found a dynamic relationship between EER and ISPA, which embedded sustainability into organisational practices and promoted the developments of environmental reporting. CEMARS data was embedded into production management, capital expenditure and budget review processes while more frequent EER was required by managers to support their operational activities. The company at times relied on an eco-validation approach to justify sustainability decisions despite their negative impact on short-term profit. EER contributed to the strategic planning, target setting and control functions of the management control system.Research implications -Sustainability research should simultaneously address EER and ISPA. The interplay between the two dimensions determines whether sustainability is embedded in organisations and whether they will act in a sustainable manner. Practical implications -The practical implication of the research is that organisations need to integrate EER information into internal strategies, processes and activities if they want managers to establish patterns of behaviour that simultaneously consider the financial and environmental impacts of decisions. An EER such as CEMARS can provide coherence and focus for sustainability initiatives.Originality/value -This research reveals that sustainability is embedded into organisations through the in...

Purpose Using institutional theory, this study aims to understand how the management control systems (MCSs) designed by top managers influence the micro-level process practices of organization members during product innovation. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a case study carried out at NZMed to examine the design and use of MCSs and their product innovation practices. Simons’ levers of control was used to understand the ways in which MCSs were designed and used in a product innovation setting. Findings The findings indicate that the everyday micro-level processes of organization members encoded MCS when their espoused values aligned with those of top managers. However, when the perspectives within the organization differed, variations to the micro-level processes of organization members emerged. The authors show how this resulted in an increase in innovation capabilities necessary to meet organizational goals. Practical implications The misalignment between espoused values and enacted values had a positive effect as it helped the organization maintain their innovation culture, and build long-term trusting relationships with suppliers which enabled the achievement of organizational goals. Originality/value By focusing on the relationship between MCS and the micro-level processes of organization members in product innovation, the paper shows how the lack of alignment between the espoused values of top management and the enacted values of project managers explained the variations between the MCS used by top managers and the practices of project teams at our case study company.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the governance of inter-firm co-development in an open innovation setting and show how a stage-gate product development process can be used to support this relationship. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a qualitative case-study approach informed by ethnomethodology. Data were obtained via semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Findings They found that in an open innovation setting – where the producing partner relies on a research partner for all product development activities – a stage-gate product development process can act as a governance mechanism, as it enables the development of trust and cooperation which supports the co-development relationship. Research limitations/implications The implication of this finding is that a stage-gate process can be a flexible governance mechanism, which can adapt over time in relation to the needs of the co-development partners in an open innovation setting. This also lays the groundwork for future research to explore the applicability of this tool in other settings, e.g. outsourcing arrangements as well as help guide the design and implementation of future governance mechanisms. Originality/value In the context of accounting research, this paper helps practitioners and academics understand how a stage-gate process can be used as a governance mechanism to manage and control co-development projects in an open innovation setting.