Management control systems in research and development organizations: The role of accounting, behavior and personnel controls

Abernethy, Margaret A.; Brownell, Peter

doi:10.1016/s0361-3682(96)00038-4

Cited by 332 publications

(211 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

193

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…6 They consider that the role of control mechanisms is associated with the characteristics of tasks, such as complexity and inter-dependence. However, neither Abernethy and Brownell (1997) nor find consistent empirical evidence to prove the relationship between control mechanisms and R&D activities, because they do not uncover the key control mechanisms of successful R&D.…”

Section: Key Control Mechanisms For Successful Randd Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Specifically, it is very difficult to accumulate the cost of R&D activities and measure their output timeously . For instance, it is difficult to use budgets as an effective control tool because R&D activities lack programmability and an obvious input-output relationship, which prevents the budget from playing its role Abernethy and Brownell, 1997). However, a budget can be an effective control tool when the task is clear and output can be measured accurately (Bruns and Waterhouse, 1975;Brownell and Dunk, 1991 .…”

Section: Mcs Stifling Randd Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Abernethy and Brownell (1997) as well as Bisbe and Otley (2004) suggest that if budgets are used primarily as a planning mechanism, product innovation is likely to have a positive effect on firm performance.…”

Section: Mcs Driving Randd Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…MCS consist of control mechanisms Abernethy and Brownell, 1997). suggests that these include formal and informal elements.…”

Section: Key Control Mechanisms For Successful Randd Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following , Abernethy and Brownell (1997) investigate formal control, including accounting and behaviour, and personnel control which is informal. view social control as defined by as a specific input control, which refers to personnel selection, training processes, and expenditure budgeting;…”

Section: Key Control Mechanisms For Successful Randd Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Research on the Management Control Systems in Different R&D Activities − A Field Study of a Listed Company1

Wang

Pan

Zhou

et al. 2015

China Account Financ Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Management control systems (MCS) are fundamental to the progress of research and development (R&D) activities. However, misunderstanding the functions of MCS impedes their scientific design. In view of this, we assess the literature on the key mechanisms of MCS in an R&D context according to the contingency and resource-based theories, and propose a framework which effectively demonstrates these mechanisms. The framework divides the progress of R&D into three stages and analyses the effects of control mechanisms on different R&D activities by distinguishing between their different functions. Finally, we verify the rationality of our framework, with a view to improving current MCS design, using a field study. Our work can help organisations to recognise the role of MCS and provides valuable theoretical and empirical evidence to support their R&D activities.

show abstract

Section: Key Control Mechanisms For Successful Randd Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 95%