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J

Ö N K Ö P I N G

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N T E R N A T I O N A L

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U S I N E S S

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C H O O L

JÖNKÖPI NG UNIVER SITY

St r a t e g i c M a n a g e m e n t

A c c o u n t i n g i n t h e K n o w l e d g e

E c o n o m y

Interplay between Management Control and Strategy in IT Consultancy

Master Thesis in Business Administration – Management Accounting

Authors: Felix Gyllenstedt Gustav Scott Tutor: Mikael Cäker

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When you say it cannot be done you are often interrupted by someone doing it”

IT-Consultancy Proverb

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to Mikael Cäker for tutoring us throughout the process of writing this Master Thesis.

We also would like to recognize our appreciation towards Jan-Olof Müller for raising our interest in the area of management accounting early on during our educational endeavors and Caroline Teh, for taking us to the next level.

Additionally we would also like to express our gratitude to the participating respondents who was kind enough to allow us to explore their insight into the studied area, without you this thesis would never been more than an abstract idea in our minds.

This Master Thesis is the result of a long, hard, and sometimes frustrating process. We as authors have learnt a lot in the area of Strategic Management Accounting in Professional Services and we are confident that you as a reader will do the same. Enjoy!

Gustav Scott Felix Gyllenstedt

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Master Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Strategic Management Accounting in the Knowledge Economy – Interplay Between Control and Strategy in IT Consultancy

Authors: Gustav Scott & Felix Gyllenstedt Tutor: Mikael Cäker

Date: 2008-05-29

Subject terms: Strategic Management Accounting, Management Control, Performance Measurement, Strategy, IT-Consultancy, Professional Services

Executive Summary

In today’s world information and knowledge is the most valuable asset and an increasing number of people are working with selling their specialized knowledge. In this knowledge economy professional services are increasing in importance and consultants play an in-creasingly important role. This master thesis investigates the interplay between manage-ment control and the strategizing process in IT-Consultancy firms.

With the purpose of gaining an understanding on how management control systems are be-ing used in IT consultancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimen-sion a case study approach was utilized.

The method is based on a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews as the mean for data collection. A total sample of 7 respondents from two IT-consultancy firms and one Management Consultant participated. The interviewees possess different positions within the two organizations ranging from top management down through the organiza-tional levels in order to achieve a triangulation of the studied phenomenon.

A framework consisting of different perspective on strategic management accounting, per-formance measurement in professional services, Levers of control and IT-Consultancy was built and used in order to analyze the collected data. The data shows that the strategizing process is for the main part conducted in the front line of the organization where the con-sultants interact with the customer on a daily basis.

The conclusion drawn is that the interaction between strategizing process and management control systems is that the management control is designed in a way that not only allows for a clear strategizing activity to take form in the lower levels of the organization, but to constantly assure that this is what is done throughout the organization.

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Table of Contents

1

Introduction... 1

1.1 Background and Problem Discussion...1

1.2 Purpose ...2

1.3 Research Questions ...2

2

Method Approach ... 3

2.1 Research Approach...3

2.2 Research strategy ...4

2.2.1 Quantitative vs. Qualitative approach...5

2.3 Data collection...6

2.3.1 Sample selection and Responsiveness...6

2.3.2 Interview Method ...7

2.4 Sample Description ...9

2.4.1 Alpha IT ...10

2.4.2 Beta IT...10

2.4.3 Expert ...10

2.5 Limitations of chosen Research Strategy ...10

2.5.1 Data Collection Limitations ...10

2.5.2 Qualitative Method Limitations ...11

2.5.3 Potential Bias Limitations ...12

2.6 Evaluating the Method...13

2.6.1 Credibility...13

2.6.2 Transferability...14

2.6.3 Dependability...14

2.6.4 Confirmability...15

2.7 Data Presentation and Analysis ...16

3

Frame of Reference ... 17

3.1 Strategic Management Accounting...17

3.2 Performance Measurements in Professional Services ...19

3.3 Levers of Control ...22

3.3.1 Belief Systems...24

3.3.2 Boundary Systems ...25

3.3.3 Interactive Control Systems...25

3.3.4 Diagnostics Control Systems...26

3.4 The Consultancy Industry...27

3.4.1 Consulting ...27

3.4.2 The Emergence of a New Industry ...27

3.4.3 IT-Consultancy ...28

4

Empirical findings from Interviews... 29

4.1 Introductory Remarks ...29

4.2 Interviews Alfa IT ...29

4.2.1 Chief Financial Officer 1 ...29

4.2.2 Business Development Manager/Vice President...30

4.2.3 Business Region Manager ...32

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4.3.1 Chief Financial Officer 2 ...36

4.3.2 Chief Executive Officer...38

4.4 Expert interview ...40

5

Analysis ... 42

5.1 Strategic Challenges within IT consultancy ...42

5.2 Competitive Advantage ...43

5.3 Performance Measures ...44

5.4 Levers of control ...46

5.4.1 Belief Systems...46

5.4.2 Boundary Systems ...48

5.4.3 Interactive Control Systems...49

5.4.4 Diagnostics Control Systems...49

5.5 Interplay between Management Control and Strategy...51

6

Conclusion ... 53

7

Ending Notes... 54

7.1 Contributions and Reflections...54

7.2 Further Research...54

References ... 55

Table of Figures

Figure 1 Strategy and performance targets...18

Figure 2 Strategic Control Framework ...19

Figure 3 Success determinants and results ...20

Figure 4 Management Trends ...22

Figure 5 Simons Levers of Control...23

Figure 6 Consultancy Triangle ...34

Figure 7 Success determinants and results ...44

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1 Introduction

This introduction section contains a discussion of the problem area, the purpose as well as the research ques-tions used in this thesis in order to fulfill the stated purpose.

1.1 Background and Problem Discussion

In today’s world information and knowledge is the most valuable asset and an increasing number of people are working with selling their specialized knowledge, a study by Haag, Cummings, McCubbrey and Pinsonneault (2006) showed that “knowledge workers” has been the fastest growing sector in the US economy and comprised 75% of the total work-force in 2006. The economies in the developed world are to a large extent based on ser-vices, and knowledge is the “currency” of the new economy. Hope and Hope (1997) call this the “third wave” economy and argue that knowledge is the key competitive factor in this new economy. Physical production activities – the traditional core competencies of many organizations, are more frequently outsourced to low-wage countries, leaving the ser-vice part of the organization in the developed economies (Hartman & Vaassen, 2003). In this new economy, an economy of knowledge, the consultancy industry, selling expertise and solutions, are the leading edge. During the previous 10 years the consulting business in Europe has grown annually by 14% and is expected to have a strong continued growth (FACO, 2008). Consulting is getting increasingly important and also the role of “internal consultants”, working within organizations is becoming stronger, which is in line with the knowledge economy (Sandberg, 2003). The knowledge economy is lead by development in IT which is also the most important field in the area of consulting, where about 40% is IT related (Foss, 2005). IT infrastructure is commonly acquired through the use of and aid of consultants, when the world becomes more complex it is difficult to have the experts “in-house”.

With an increased global competition, complex and changing business environments in many markets there is an increased need for business development and strategic thinking. These market conditions create a need for management accounting to use resources effi-ciently, performance measures to evaluate the operations1 and management control sys-tems2 in order to control the strategy of the organization. There has been a discussion re-garding the relevance of traditional management control systems3 and their usefulness in the knowledge economy (Simons, 2000, Chapman, 2005). This discussion has been in form of criticism that there is an incompatibility between traditional management control sys-temsand the need to innovate and pursue strategic initiatives (Frow, Marginson& Ogden, 2005). This “crisis” in management accounting was raised by Johnson and Kaplan (1987) in Relevance Lost where they discuss the need for new management accounting approaches in order to better face the challenges of the emerging new economy.

1 Performance measurement can be defined as a formal measure of the process toward a defined

organizational objective

2 Management control system is defined as being an informal or formal system which gathers and uses

infor-mation to evaluate the performance and change the behavior of different organizational recourses

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measure-IT consultancy is an area characterized by a turbulent environment, rapid innovation, growth, consolidation and high competition (Foss, 2005). The reasons for choosing consultancy firms as a base for this study are many. Professional services in general and IT-Consultancy in particular show evidence of service complexity, demands for high quality and a need for constantly reviewing the companies positions in order to create value for the customers. As for the IT industry, the turbulent periods in the early 2000s, when the indus-try “crashed”, left only the strongest, most adaptable and value creating firms alive. The IT-consultancy industry is furthermore highly volatile and sensitive for changes in the business cycles, and is often the arena for growth strategies involving M&As. All this parameters make the case of IT-consultancy highly dynamic and rapidly changing and therefore, study-ing the use of management control systems in the settstudy-ing of firms active within this indus-try would give highly rewarding and interesting results.

According to Andersson and Larsson (2006) only twenty-something empirical studies have been performed as of 2006 within the area of Strategic Management accounting. Out of these 20 studies, case study research is the most common approach. The majority of the studies discussed by Andersson and Larsson concern manufacturing companies as the source of data. This further gives strength to the authors of this thesis’s decision to per-form studies on IT-consultancy firms as being professional service firms, active within a knowledge intensive setting.

1.2 Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to gain understanding on how management control systems are being used in IT consultancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimension.

1.3 Research Questions

In order for the above stated purpose to be fulfilled the thesis will be using the following research question;

How is the interplay between management control and the strategizing process viewed upon in IT consultancy firms?

- With a specific interest on the interaction between performance measurements and strategy

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2 Method Approach

This section discusses aspects of importance for the research conducted. Research approach, research strategy and data collection as well as limitations and credibility of the method chosen is discussed in order to enligh-ten the reader of the conducted research process and the method for fulfillment of the stated purpose.

2.1 Research Approach

The purpose of this thesis is to gain understanding on how management control systems are being used in IT consultancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimension. This purpose is best suited to be fulfilled using an inductive research approach with its more qualitative nature and therefore the authors have chosen to use this approach. This will, as Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill (2003) suggest allow for a more flexible structure and will permit alternative explanations of the phenomenon to be explored.

The theoretical framework being used in order to fulfill the purpose has been build with theories of descriptive nature, allowing the authors to explain and define certain phenome-non as well as theories with a more active role in the analysis work, selected in order to al-low for identification and categorization of the underlying processes in the cases being stu-died. In combination these theories and models will allow the purpose of this thesis to be fulfilled with confidence and accuracy. Marginson (2004) encourage researchers performing studies in management accounting and control to adopt multiple theoretical perspectives which also have been the aim when selecting theories.

Research within the domain of management accounting has, accordingly to Kaplan (1986) been dominated by a focus on how the techniques of management accounting should be de-signed and used (Kaplan, 1986, in Cäker, 2005). That approach has a major drawback con-cerning understanding how techniques are used within organizations (Cäker, 2005). Man-agement accounting functions and manMan-agement control systems do not necessary becomes central until they are faced by the scrutinize of individuals in the organization and in order to gain better understanding of the processes itself and its role in the strategic dimension of an organization a researcher must look closely at how the systems and practices work. And this will have effects and implications for the method applied in the study being performed (Cäker, 2005).

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2.2 Research strategy

With traits of an inductive approach, this master thesis bears the characteristics of an ex-ploratory study. With this strategy to research the researchers seek new insights of a phe-nomenon, attempting to find out “what is happening” and seek new insights into the area (Saunders et al., 2003). This strategy is one of three approaches, exploratory, explanative and descriptive. Explanative research is a study that establishes causal relationships be-tween variables. The emphasis is on studying a situation or a problem in order to explain the relationship between variables. Descriptive studies attempt to portray an accurate pro-file of persons, events or situations (Saunders et al., 2003).

Furthermore, when discussing different research strategies, the concept of time horizon is also of importance and should be brought up for discussion. Studies can be defined as cross sectional or longitudinal. Cross sectional research studies a phenomenon (or phe-nomena) at a particular time e.g. a snapshot, whereas longitudinal research has the capacity to study change and development over a longer period of time (Robson, 2002). Cross sec-tional studies often make use of a survey strategy (Easterby-smith, Lowe & Thorpe 1991). However cross sectional studies can very well also be utilizing qualitative methods, such as case studies which is then often based on a number of interviews performed over a long period of time (Saunders et al., 2003). The research area of this thesis, management control systems and business strategy, could most definitely benefit from a longitudinal approach but since the setting of the research is a master thesis, with one semester of active work a cross sectional, case study approach has been utilized in order to fulfill the purpose and conclude satisfying results.

In order to fulfill the stated purpose of this thesis in a satisfying way, the authors have cho-sen to attempt to triangulate the management accounting function and its role in the strate-gic dimension i.e. how it works, by interviewing persons within organizations that both do work with the operational management accounting functions and strategy, e.g. top man-agement members such as CFO’s, Vice president, as well as individuals that have a “balanc-ing” role in terms of operational and long-term strategic tasks, such as project managers, group leaders and other middle manager positions as well as a consultant active within de-velopment and implementation of performance measurement systems. This thesis do not use one single consultancy company as a case study in order to analyze the relationship be-tween Management Control Systems and strategy but instead uses the phenomenon of per-formance measurement systems and strategy through triangulation of data (Yin, 2003). A case study is defined by Robson (2002, p 178) as: “a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular cotemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence”. By using a limited number of data sources, the research gets the necessary focus and narrowness that is suitable in order to fulfill the purpose stated. According to Saunders et al. (2003) a case study strategy has a significant ability to generate answers to the question “why?” as well as “what?” and “how?” These abilities are important for the fulfillment of the stated purpose of this thesis and therefore the authors have chosen to utilize a case study approach in this thesis.

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2.2.1 Quantitative vs. Qualitative approach

As a part of research strategy, the concept of quantitative and qualitative methods is also important to address. Quantitative methods are based on the gathering of numerical data or data that will be quantified (Saunders et al., 2003) Quantitative methods has normally the following characteristics; use of large samples, is concerned with the testing of a hypothe-sis, data being highly specific and precise, and generalizes from sample to population (Hu-seey 1997). When using quantitative strategies for research, statically analysis is in use and this creates the need for large samples to be collected, preferably using some kind of prob-ability sampling in order to create a setting that can generate results which are reliable and bears valid outcomes (Hussey, 1997).

Qualitative methods are, according to Miles and Huberman (1994), a set of data collection and analysis techniques that emphasize a fine grained, process oriented, observational ap-proach to data collection and analysis which provides the researcher with a mean for de-veloping an understanding of complex phenomena from the perspective of those that liv-ing it. They are by that a mean of explorliv-ing or investigatliv-ing a situation in order to better understand it (Barr, 2004).

Qualitative methods allow the researcher to discover new linkages and processes and are particularly useful for creating a better and more in-depth understanding of complex proc-esses and the influence of individual perspectives in those procproc-esses (Barr, 2004). By utiliz-ing qualitative methods when performutiliz-ing research the emphasis of the process will be on a more interpretive approach, the result being produced comes to terms with the meaning, not the frequency of the occurring phenomena (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991). Furthermore, qualitative methods provide the researcher with the opportunity to identify and explain complex relationships without having to pre-specify either the variables or the relationship between them. The research allows for questions simply being asked, rather than testing whether the expected answer is correct (Barr, 2004).

With these aspects as a background, the authors decided to apply a qualitative base for the research being performed in this thesis. The purpose holds the underlying meaning to ex-plore and evaluate the fundamental relationship between Management Control Systems and strategy, aiming at indentifying the role Management Control Systems play in the strategiz-ing process of consultancy firms as well as gainstrategiz-ing an understandstrategiz-ing of it. The authors are convinced that by using a qualitative method the chosen cases will be able to aid the ful-fillment of the purpose in the most satisfying way.

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2.3 Data collection

The data collection process in this thesis was a two-step approach. First potential firms willing to participate in the study was identified and contacted explained in the section Sample Selection and Responsiveness. The second step was made up of the collection of the actual data, which, using a qualitative method, is based on interviews with people with insight into the matter of study in the participating firms, explained in detail in the follow-ing section, Interview Method.

2.3.1 Sample selection and Responsiveness

The process of indentifying potential sources for collection of empirical data started early within the process of producing this thesis. Previous research results suggest that the so-phistication of management accounting systems and practices is positively associated with firm size (Bruns and Waterhouse, 1975; Merchant, 1981; Widener, 2007) and therefore the scope of the sample selection process was adapted to this information. The authors’ aim was to get access to firms being large enough in order to be faced with the potential of meeting sophisticated management accounting and management control systems. Initial contact was made with representatives from three companies during the career and re-quirement day, Next Step, at Jönköping international Business School in mid April and lat-er followed up with email in ordlat-er to furthlat-er explore the probability of gaining access to key personnel at the firms. In order to increase the potential sample size three more firms where approached and the interest in interviewing certain person holding, for this thesis, interesting positions, was expressed.

Two firms were contacted through email, presenting the scope and purpose of the thesis as well as motivating why the authors saw benefit in including the specific firm in the study. The other two firms were contacted through so called snowball sampling (Saunders et al., 2003). Initiative contact was taken with previous established contacts at the respective firms and then asking these persons to further introduce the authors and the study being performed to persons of potential importance in the firms. All potential contacted respon-dents were given the information that their identity and organization they represent would be anonymously described in the thesis document and that the only persons that would know their identity would be the two authors.

The thought behind the strategy for data collection was to achieve a triangulation of the studied phenomenon and further potential sources for data was contacted. One Manage-ment consultant and former senior consultant from an international consultancy firm was tracked down and introduced to the research being conducted and the interest of perform an interview with the consultant was presented.

In order to be able to research how management control systems are being used in consul-tancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimension the authors seeked participants that held different kind on positions. The intention from the authors was to include respondents from all levels of organizations as well as people with “expert” knowledge in the area in order to cover as many dimensions of the chosen problem area as possible.

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The responsiveness of the contacted interviewees was mixed. Out of the three companies initially contacted during Next Step, no final participation was negotiated due to decline and non-respondence. The Snowballing collection gave better outcome and resulted in re-spondent CFO 1 and CEO from Beta IT and, CFO 1, Vice President, Project Manager, and Business Area Manager from Alpha IT all agreeing on participation. The management consultant, Greger Albert agreed to participate after the first contact was made. Out of a total contacted sample of 15 potential respondents the final sample was made up of 7 re-spondents agreeing on participating in the study. The initial research strategy of the authors was to collect data until a satisfying level of data had been accumulated. After seven inter-views had been performed the authors felt that saturation of the data was fulfilled and in accordance with Marginson’s (2004) directions on data collection and saturation no more efforts on gaining access to more interviewees was taken.

2.3.2 Interview Method

Interviews can be defined as unstructured, semi-structured or structured (Saunders et al., 2003) these different interview styles result in different data, describe causalities and open up for different results and different conclusions and it is therefore important for the re-searcher to be aware of the differences between the methods and which one to choose to utilize for a specific study (Lantz, 2007).

According to several scholars, using interviews as the mean for data collection is undoubt-edly the most advantageous approach when the following circumstances are met: (1) there are a large number of questions to be answered; (2) the questions are either complex or open-ended and (3), the order and logic of questioning may need to be varied (Easterby-Smith et al., 2002; Healy, 1991; Jankowicz, 2000 cited in Saunders et al., 2003). According to Saunders et al. (2003) for the latter two situations, semi-structured or in-depth interviews will be the most appropriate approaches for data collection.

The series of interviews performed in this study can be characterized as semi-structured. These kinds of interviews are defined by Saunders et al (2003) as: “interviews where the re-searcher has a list of themes and questions to be covered, although the order of the questions and which of those that is included can vary from interview to interview”. This approach to interviews put the in-terviewee in focus and thus, the inin-terviewee has the potential to affect how the phenomena being studied is defined and influence how it is defined and understood (Lantz, 2007). Easterby-Smith et al. (1991) argue that when performing research using interviews the re-searcher need a framework or base from which they can begin to develop themes that should be covered in the interview situation. As an interview session goes on and the ag-gregated number of interviews performed expands, the researcher should focus on themes and data of interest explore these further and ignore lines of questions and themes not of interest or importance for the research (Easterby-smith et al., 1991). Semi-structured inter-views as a mean for data collection is appropriate for this, since it does not bound the re-searcher or the interview subject to a narrow, pre-defined set of themes but instead allow the interviewee to elucidate and explore the definition and meaning of the phenomenon being studied from his/hers point of view (Lantz, 2007).

The interviews conducted with the respondents were between 40 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes, with an average time per interview of 65 minutes. All interviews received a cover letter containing an introduction to the research and its scope and purpose, and the reason why the authors felt that the specific respondent would be beneficial to include in the

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re-terview and immediate after the inre-terview was complete, these notes were re-written on a computer and after that transformed into a referate of the interview. As when the final presentation of the respective interviews were written in this document, both the authors original notes, the computer-written version of the notes and the complete referate from the interview was utilized in order to as accurately as possible present the patterns and themes as well as correct quotes, in the thesis document.

The questions used as guidelines during the interviews were first developed as a draft which was presented to and scrutinized by the tutor of this thesis. The feedback received from the tutor was taken into account as the interview manuscript was rewritten and later used as guidance during the interviews. As the interviews all are semi-structured the devel-oped set of questions where used as a framework, in order to make sure that all relevant aspects were covered during the interview.

As all participating respondents are representatives of Swedish firms in Sweden, the inter-views were all conducted in Swedish. This was done in order to better allow for the re-spondents to feel comfortable and as accurately as possible reflect upon the stated ques-tions. This then raises some methodogical concerns as the language used in this thesis is English. In order to tackle this and any potential biases connected to it, the authors took extra care when re-writing the text into the final document. Dictionaries were used when felt necessary in order to accurate use correct English words that correspond to the original word expressed by the interviewee. All participants were also given the opportunity to re-view the final version in English. None of the participating respondents however utilized this offer, mainly referring to the fact that anonymity and generalization of company name, title and position was satisfying for them.

The original plan was to perform all interviews in an in-person setting which was also ex-pressed in the contact made through the distribution in the cover letter. This proved to not be possible to achieve for all interviews as unforeseen changes in respondents schedules and busy calendars forced the authors to conduct some interviews through establishing phone conferences with certain respondents. The respective interview method utilized in the specific interviews can be found in the following sub-section. 2.4 Sample Description.

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2.4 Sample Description

Below follows a description of the participating respondents and their respective organiza-tions, brief explanations of the method for performing their respective interviews and rele-vant background information of the respondents. All respondents were promised the pos-sibility of anonymity and generalization of their respective company names and activates.

Name4 Position Company4 Contribution

CFO 1 CFO Alpha IT

Provided interesting insights from an accounting perspec-tive on support for use and development of management control systems in knowledge intensive settings

VP Vice

President

Alpha IT

As one of the founders of the firm VP have a unique depth in his knowledge and insight into the dynamics of man-agement control. Contributed with an in-depth perspective from a top management perspective as well with an un-derstanding of the need for a balance in the different parts of a control system.

BRM Business Region Manager

Alpha IT Provided insights into management control and strategy development from an upper -middle managers perspec-tive.

PM Project Man-ager

Alpha IT

Is working with management control himself and is at the same time subject to management control from top man-agement. Contributed with insights and understanding into how the management control function is working on the middle manager level and how directives from top man-agement is communicated out to the consultants in the field.

CFO 2 CFO Beta IT

Provided valuable insights from top management position with an accounting perspective on how management con-trol functions can be constructed in knowledge intensive settings.

CEO CEO Beta IT

Contributed with a valuable overall insight and interesting perspective on performance measurement, management control and its connection to the strategic dimension of the firm Greger Albert Management Consultant Consultancy firm

Extensive consultancy experience from evaluating, de-signing and implementing Management control systems in a variety of companies and industries. Contributed with valuable information from an outsider’s perspective and general trends in design and use of management account-ing, Management control systems and strategy in knowl-edge intensive environments.

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2.4.1 Alpha IT

Alpha IT was founded more than 20 years ago and has the last 5 years grown both organi-cally and through mergers and acquisitions operations to today include around 800 em-ployees. The organization has its operational focus on the Nordic market and has offices in several cities in Sweden and sales offices in the some other Nordic countries.

The company operates through two business areas, product development and industrial systems, which in term is divided in several “excellency centers”. Both business areas work with in-house design, development project close to the customer, “hourly based” consult-ing as well as placconsult-ing consultants at the customer for longer implementation projects

2.4.2 Beta IT

Beta IT is a large IT consulting company which has expanded throughout the Nordic countries, currently having more than 1000 employees and has been operational since the mid 80s. Beta industry offers system development and technical infrastructure and services in IT management and business IT systems. The company has a clear focus on the Nordic region with offices and sale offices in approximately 50 locations.

2.4.3 Expert

Greger Albert is a Management Consultant with the focus on management accounting, management control and strategy development. He has 10 years of experience from the management consulting industry and has consulted for a vast number of firms, both manu-facturing as well as service oriented firms.

2.5 Limitations of chosen Research Strategy

As of any research conducted, also this thesis is faced with several potential limitations. In order to work around potential limitations and increase the reliability of the research find-ings it is of importance for an author to display that there has been an awareness and an ac-tive attempt to manage the limitations in a satisfying way.

2.5.1 Data Collection Limitations

The data collection performed for this research is based on the use of semi-structured in-terviews. The original plan was to perform all interviews in a face to face setting. Logistical and schedule-based difficulties from some of the respondents resulted that a second strat-egy for data collection had to be utilized: telephone interviews.

Interviewing by telephone can present some drawbacks since the interviewer are not meet-ing the respondent face to face. Saunders et al (2003) suggest that it is of importance to es-tablish trust as an interviewer, something that might be more difficult to do through an tel-ephone interview. Establishing trust is of extra importance when the questions being asked are of critical nature. In order to establish trust with the interviewees and to assure reliabil-ity of the data being collected from the interviews all respondents where firstly offered ano-nymity and informed of the fact that the interview was not to be taped. This information was given in connection to the cover letter/first contact that was distributed through email.

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The cover letter was distributed in order to be able to establish trust with the respondents and building a foundation for further contact.

In the case of Alpha IT the cover letter was distributed to the potential respondents through an already established, well known contact at the company, which vouched for the authors and their attentions and scope of research. This added to the trust between the au-thors and the respondents in Alpha IT. In the case of Beta IT, the cover letter was distrib-uted to selected members of the top management team and later forwarded to CEO2 which expressed an interest in participating in the study. CEO contacted the authors ap-proximately 1 week after the interview with CFO2 had been performed and suggested two times available for interviews. As both of them where after the final deadline for submitting this thesis, the authors suggested an interview within two days as to be able to include CEO as an participant. CEO responded positively on this and agreed on an interview al-ready next morning. Due to this circumstances the authors are confident that trust were es-tablished also towards the respondents from Beta IT being interviewed through the use of a telephone conference.

Another aspect which needs to be taken into account is the pace of an interview. Saunders et al. (2003) mention that it can be difficult to perform the interview and record data at the same time. In the setting of a face to face interview this is of minor concern since the since the interviewee can see what the interviewer is recording, e.g. writing/typing and how fast. In an telephone interview situation this raises some difficulties since the interviewee cannot see what the researcher is recording, writing/typing and how fast and hence, developing very complex questions and trying to get complex answers is not easy as there must be enough time to record such answers. This was solved through that both authors of this thesis participated in the interview sessions, both telephone and face to face interviews and as one of the authors acted as the “lead” interviewer, taking less complex notes, the “co”-interviewer focused on making more complex and longer notes as well as writing down quotes as correct as possible.

2.5.2 Qualitative Method Limitations

Analyzing results found when using qualitative methods can according to Golden-Biddle and Locke (1997) be difficult (Barr, 2004). They argue that the absence of a standardized instrument to be used in the analyzing process can be the reason behind this. Instruments that can be used when analyzing answers are broad in its nature in order to fit the specific research being performed (Barr, 2004).

When the analysis is carried out there are potentials for biases as a result from that the re-searcher’s own interpretation of the recorded data colors the analysis to much, which in turn, according to Barr (2004) can lead to the final result being unreliable. In Barr (2004), Golden-Biddle and Locke (1997) present ways to overcome this possible obstacles in terms of reliability of the final results. They promotes that the recorded data and results should be linked together as bringing a research forward that come up with a logical conclusions and that is optimal to seek a way of presenting the research results as to allowing the reader to clearly see the connection between the recorded data and the drawn conclusions. Further-more Barrett, Mayan, Olson & Spiers, (2002) raise the argument that qualitative research can gain a solid validity and reliability and a strong overall trustworthiness by scrutinizing the research method using the framework presented by Lincoln and Guba (1985), some-thing which has been done in this thesis.

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2.5.3 Potential Bias Limitations

Bias can be a drawback when performing research using interviews as the mean for data collection. Bias can appear rather easily when, for example the interviewer end up routing the respondents answers in a certain direction, so called interviewer bias (Saunders et al, 2003). Another potential bias situation that can occur is when the researcher interprets the findings from an interview in a directed way (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991). Bias problems might, on the other hand, also appear on behalf of the respondent being interviewed as well. Saunders et al. (2003) label this interviewee bias and continue by explaining that it might occurs due to that certain questions from the interviewer might be avoided and not answered to, by the respondent. This could be the result of critical information not to be revealed toward the researcher and therefore the answers generated by the interviewee be-come restricted or twisted in order to fit the questions raised as good as possible. Robson (2002) extends the concept of bias by arguing that interviews that requires extensively amounts of time to be performed may result in a bias. Robson view this bias potential as streaming from the respondents unwillingness to participate in an interview that would take some time to go through.

It is important for a researcher performing research using interviews as the mean for data collection to be aware of these potential biases. Through knowledge and awareness regard-ing potential bias problems a stronger reliability of the results generated will be achieved (Saunders et al., 2003).

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2.6 Evaluating the Method

Lincoln and Guba (1985) bring forward a set of criteria that a researcher should use in or-der to evaluate a chosen method and its design. They suggest the following criteria to be used when using a qualitative approach to research; Credibility, Transferability, Depend-ability and ConfirmDepend-ability. By scrutinizing the method with the use of these criteria a solid trustworthiness will be achieved (Morse et al., 2002). Morse et al. furthermore explain that with the use of the criteria developed by Lincoln and Guba (1985) a solid validity and reli-ability is achieved. This approach is especially beneficial toward, and preferably used in rela-tion to research using qualitative methods, and therefore the framework of Lincoln and Guba has been chosen to use in order to evaluate the method in this thesis.

2.6.1 Credibility

Credibility bring to light whether “the research was conducted in such a manner that the subject of the enquiry was correctly identified and described” (Hussey, 1997, p. 272). This can be obtained through the researchers attempts to involve themselves in the study for a prolonged period of time, through utilizing persistent observation of the subject being studied in order to ob-tain a deep understanding and by triangulation through the use of different sources and methods (Lincoln and Guba, 1985).

In order to undertake a strong credibility in accordance with the definitions of Lincoln and Guba the authors firstly undertook a robust literature review and used a vast amount of sources in order to receive a as complete as possible image of the area of strategic man-agement accounting and manman-agement control. The information gained from this processes was later used when identifying theories and models that could be used in order for suc-cessful fulfillment of the stated purpose.

The data collection of this thesis utilizes semi-structured, qualitative interviews with 7 re-spondents from two different IT-consultancy firms and a Management consultant with solid experience valid for this thesis. Prior to contacting any respondents as much data as possible regarding their respective organizations and their position within it was collected and reflected upon. This was done in order to be able to be probe the information received from the respondents and to create trust and credibility in the eyes of the respondents. The authors have attempted to triangulate the studied subject trough performing interviews with employees from two companies as well as a consultant, active within management ac-counting, performance measurements and strategy. The employees interviewed at the two firms are persons with positions both in top, upper-middle, and middle management level in order to receive a nuanced image of the studied phenomenon.

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2.6.2 Transferability

Transferability is concerned with evaluating whether the findings can be applied to another situation which is sufficiently similar in order to be able for generalization (Lincoln and Guba, 1985)

As Lincoln and Guba (1985) states, qualitative research do not bear the intention to ex-press external validity as the purpose of qualitative methods is to describe, decode, and translate in order to come to terms with the meaning, not the frequency of a certain studied phenomenon (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991). This thesis uses a case study approach as the foundation to research and by that the aim is to accurately describe the situation of the chosen case; the phenomenon of management control and its role within the strategic di-mension at IT-consultancy firms. Transferability in terms of the results achieved can only be stated to be valid in terms of the perception of the existence of general trends and pat-terns towards other knowledge intensive settings or professional services, and not in any statistical transfer toward a general population.

Lincoln and Guba (1985) argue that when performing research using a qualitative method the researcher should provide a description of the research process with such details that it would enable other researchers to test whether the results and methods used hold in other contexts and at another time. In other words, the degree of potential transferability will be dependent on the similarity between the context which the transferability is tested between. In order for fulfill this, when using qualitative methods, the researcher should provide a solid explanation of the problem which research is being performed on, a comprehensive description of the method used and the research process used, a discussion of important aspects, as well as a robust description of the final outcome of the research (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). The authors have, when performing the research and writing process of this thesis, attempted to follow these guidelines and can therefore with confidence argue that transferability, in terms of its meaning for qualitative research has been fulfilled.

2.6.3 Dependability

Dependability is concerned with showing that the research processes are systematic, rigor-ous and well documented (Hussey, 1997). Lincoln and Guba (1985) explain this as the au-thors need to show the research process and the findings generated from it in the study so there is a possibility for it to be replicated if the study was to be conducted with the same respondents in the same context again. Research with a qualitative nature does not neces-sarily propose to be repeatable since it reflects the reality of the studied setting at the time when it was collected, in a situation that may be subject to change (Saunders et al., 2003). The participating respondents were all interviewed using the same method; utilizing a semi-structured approach, following the same interview guide with examples of questions and themes to be covered during the interview. The purpose of the interview guide was to have a concrete frame for the interview process in order to make sure that the proper areas was covered but at the same time allowing for flexibility with the order of and, which questions that were used. This flexibility from the researchers' side was an attempt to be able to accu-rate probe the knowledge and insights into the studied phenomenon by the respondents. This flexibility create a situation where it can become difficult to replicate the conducted research fully, since the order of questions and which questions that were used in a

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particu-lar interview is not known to outsiders. Another question towards the dependability request is then also the promised anonymity for the participating organizations and their respective employees. The anonymity of the respondents creates a situation where only respondents with similar positions, within similar organizations becomes possible in terms of replicabil-ity of the used research process. However, in order to strive for a fulfillment of dependabil-ity, the interview guide, with the example questions used have been included as an appen-dix in this document and the anonymity of the participating respondents have been pur-posely described in generic terms in order to allow the identification of respondents with similar backgrounds and positions. To conclude, Saunders et al., (2003) argue that the de-pendability constraint can be fulfilled with confidence through making sure that utilized re-search method is described in detail. This description should be detailed enough so that the processes used can be understood correctly and the data re-used with confidence, with a clear understanding of the method applied in the back.

2.6.4 Confirmability

This last criteria suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985) is concerned with establishing a de-termination as whether the findings generated flow from the data and that the researcher can be sure of the fact that the findings reflect the respondent’s view rather than a fabrica-tion produced by the researcher’s own biases.

Saunders et al. (2003) present a number of issues to tackle in order to overcome the poten-tial treat of biases, and with that fulfill the requirement for achieving confirmability. Firstly, interviewers that posses as strong knowledge base of the topic of the research will receive credibility from the interviewed respondents and by that increase the confidence of the re-spondent. Furthermore, supplying information to the interviewee prior to the interview will increase the credibility of the researcher. With this as a guideline, all respondents re-ceived an informative cover letter, containing information such as the scope and purpose of the study, the reasons why an interview was wished to be performed with the respon-dent and practical information regarding the actual interview process and issues of ano-nymity. In combination with this all interviews were performed on pre-specified times, es-tablished by the respondent in order to avoid facing biases due to time-limits, stressful situ-ations or issues of anonymity and freedom to express thoughts and insights freely.

Easterby-Smith et al (1991) raises the argument that open-end questions reduce potential biases since they produce a situation were it is the respondent’s interpretation of the ques-tion raised that lead to a response. In order for this to be fulfilled it requires that the re-searcher use questions that are structured in a manner that generate a non-bias respond from the interviewee. This was approach through developing and re-working several ver-sions of the interview guide. The interview guide was then given to the tutor for review and the comments made from the tutors was taken into account when the final version of the interview guide was assembled and later used during the interviews. The researcher fur-thermore should make sure to avoid theoretical concepts and jargon being used in the questions, if the interviewees are not familiar with them (Saunders et al., 2003). Since sev-eral of the respondents are the holders of positions and with educational backgrounds that do not familiarize them with management accounting, performance measurement and oth-er theoretical business concepts, the questions woth-ere build with genoth-eral descriptions instead of the vocabulary of academic business settings. The order of the questions were also con-sidered in relation to the argument by Saunders et al. (2003), that more sensitive questions are best to be placed in the latter half of an interview, if the interviewees responses do not

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2.7 Data Presentation and Analysis

The collected data has been presented under subheadings for each interviewee. The data from each interview has been presented following themes and patterns that emerged during the interview as the participant reflected upon and answered on stated questions.

The presentation of the data from the performed interviews are presented as raw data. Lantz (2007) define raw data as selected information taken from the total information available to the researchers that could be collected and later used as a basis for conducting the analysis. The raw data collected from the interviews is presented under an subheading for each interviewee and organized as following the themes and categories covered during the interview. By presenting the data charactegorized by the themes that emerged during the interview the data portrays the respondents’ perception and insight into the stated ques-tions. This is of importance the purpose of the interview is to seek an understanding of the interviewees perception of the studied phenomenon, based on the insight and knowledge the respondent have from its respective position within an organization. By keeping the data in its raw version the reader forms an understanding of the views and thoughts of the interviewee and it is made clear that it is the views and insights of the respondent that is presented, and not the author themselves.

The presentation of the text is also build up through interspersing the text with quotations as this give authenticity and vibrancy to the text and enables the reader to share the world the authors are analyzing (Hussey, 1997).

The analysis process has been constructed through analyzing key concepts one by one in order to build up an understanding of the underlying patterns that interplay in order to un-derstand the role of management control within the strategizing process. An analysis of being built up by several analysis subsections also aid the reader in probing the underlying phenomenon that need to be understood in order to be able to grasp this interplay. Given the vast amount of data being processed in the analysis, a clearly structured analysis process with defined subsections being used is beneficial towards fulfillment of the stated purpose.

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3 Frame of Reference

The theoretical framework contains both theory with a defining purpose as well as theories and models that are more actively used in the later analysis of empirical data.

3.1 Strategic Management Accounting

Several scholars have during the last two decades presented a variety of perspectives and definitions of what Strategic Management Accounting (SMA) is. The purpose of this sub-section is not to choose one unifying perspective as the dominant perspective to be used, but instead raise different perspectives in order to let the subject of SMA be reflected upon in its rightwhorty point of view.

According to Andersson & Larsson (2006) there is no consensus regarding the definition of the concept Management Control Systems. There is a conceptual confusion regarding some of these management accounting concepts and the definitions depend on which aca-demic scholar, organizational setting and which consultancy perspective is looked upon (Andersson & Larsson, 2006). Management control systems has evolved from an industrial production context measuring production units and cost accounting and then evolved to a broader use in a business management context. Management control systems in this thesis is defined as being an informal or formal system which gathers and uses information to evaluate and the performance and change behavior for different organizational recourses. Another related concept is performance measurements which can be defined as a formal measure of the process toward a defined organizational objective

In the 1950s and 1960s traditional management accounting techniques were viewed as an effective mean of organizational coordination and control (Chapman, 2005). The manage-ment accounting function played a significant role through the effective use of standard costing, variance analysis and other related systems (Chapman, 2005). Management ac-counting was for long defined as being concerned with the provision of information to people in need of it within the organization as a contrast to financial accounting which is defined as being concerned with the provision of adequate information to external stake-holders, outside the organization (Drury, 2001).

Today’s increasingly unpredictable and dynamic environment has changed the management ideas and this has had effect on the management control systems (Atkinson, 2006). One control system approach being suitable for one organization is not automatically applicable at all organizations inside the industry (Smith, 2005). In the 1980s Simonds first coined the term Strategic Management Accounting as an analysis of management accounting data in-cluding information about the competitors with the purpose to develop and monitor the strategy (Simonds, 1981 in Drury 2001).

According to Bromwich (1990) strategic management accounting means analyzing financial and non-financial information of the firm and monitoring the strategy of both the organi-zation and its identified competitors. Wilson (1995) takes the definition further and gives strategic management accounting the purpose of supporting the strive towards competitive advantage with a long term perspective, using a broad scope of performance measure-ments.

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In strategic management accounting, the long term goals of strategy are broken down into short term targets and performance measures, which play a role in successful strategy im-plementation (Atkinson, 2006), illustrated in figure 2 Strategic Management Accounting can also play the role of giving feedback and information, in order to enable managers to know if they are “on track” also give opportunities to adapt and revise strategies (Atkinson, 2006).

Figure 1 Strategy and performance targets, adopted Lewis and Slack (2002)

The model developed by Lewis and Slack (2002) illustrates the relationship between per-formance measurements and strategy. The higher level of strategic relevance, the more dif-ficult to develop a suitable performance measure, which results from a higher level of ag-gregation of information. The fundamental idea presented is that the detailed performance targets needs to be in line with the strategy embraced (Lewis and Slack, 2002). The relation-ship between management accounting and strategy is taken further by Smith (2005) who identifies four key factors that need to be aligned and pull in the right direction; mission statement, goals, operational strategies and performance measurements.

The practice of strategic management accounting was researched by Guilding et al. (2000) and the conclusion was that the practices are widespread. However the familiarity of the expression strategic management accounting among accountants had limited appreciation. This can in turn be interpreted as that accountants and managers are using management ac-counting in order to support strategy development even though the awareness of it as strate-gic management accounting might be limited. Fitzgerald (2007) explains that management control systems need to be inline with the organizational needs and the model below, the Strategic Control Framework, gives advice on how strategic management control system would be beneficial to implement in an organization (Goold and Quinn, 1990). Factors

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in-volved is the environmental turbulence and the degree of the complexness of the objec-tives to implement strategic management accounting.

Figure 2 Strategic Control Framework Goold and Quinn (1990)

3.2 Performance Measurements in Professional Services

The concept of professional service companies is defined by Samuelsson (2004) as being knowledge intensive companies; their primary asset consists of individual employees and their knowledge. In the area of performance measurements and productivity in service or-ganizations there is a fragmented research where there are ideas and concepts from several academic disciplines, ranging from Service Management, Human Recourse Management, Knowledge management and Management Accounting, that interplay in order to present a unifying picture (e.g. Fitz-enz, 2000, Huselid 1995, Vuorinen Järvinen Lehtinen 1998, Kullvén 1994, Brignall & Ballantine 1995, Fitzgerald & Moon, 1996, Ojasalo, 1999). A report from the consultancy firm Mckinsey & Company states that it is possible to use similar performance measurements in service organizations as in manufacturing companies such production principles adopted from Toyota, e.g. kaizen and focusing on reducing dif-ferent kinds of waste (Mckinsey, 2006). The report brings up that the problem in strategic management accounting is to find external data in order to asses the performance of com-petitors and to benchmark and evaluate the business. According to Grönroos (2007) when making a service productivity assessment there are a number of problems and traditional measures are more misleading than valuable.

The “Nordic school of service management” present ideas in the area of how to manage professional service companies and issues such as quality, performance, and service pro-ductivity have been researched (Samuelsson, 2004, Vuorinen et al, 1998). Grönroos (2007) presents strategies for performance measurements in service organizations, and the view of a complex relationship between the three variables quality, profit, and productivity. This re-lationship, with the potential of a tradeoff between quality and productivity, must be looked upon within a strategic oriented perspective (Van Looy, Gemmel, Dresmet, Van Dierdonck & Serneels, 1998).

Grönroos (2007) states that the most correct way of measuring effectively is to compare how changes in the input affect the quality and output and how this affect the profit. In traditional manufacturing this is easily done because the quality is assumed to be constant however measuring productivity in professional service companies becomes more

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compli-cated. The interrelationship between these three variables is characterized by high complex-ity because the qualcomplex-ity in professional services cannot be easily defined (Ojasalo, 1999). The “perceived value” of service quality is a complex concept, usually it need to been seen through an individualized perspective and be linked to prior expectations of the service. Many other factors also affect the impression of the service, which need to be taken into consideration i.e. clothes, corporate buildings, how the staff articulates, and presents the service (Vuorinen et al, 1998).

Simons (2005) found that professional services often lack the use of traditional control sys-tems since it is inherently difficult to accurately measure the value of the output generated by knowledge based professionals. The quality and productivity needs to be measured ex-ternally, since the quality can be defined in form of perceived value. According to Grön-roos (2007) the most correct and practically relevant productivity measure combines both internal (cost efficiency) and external perceived quality (revenue efficiency) i.e.

Service productivity = Revenues from a given service / Cost of producing this service. This measure is closely related to profitability, which means having a focus on the eco-nomic result of an operation. However using financial productivity measures involve some problems; by reducing costs creating a higher short term “productivity” can result in long term effects result in such as a negative image and loss in revenues. Another problem in this measurement is that there are many factors interrelated in the price of a service, per-ceived service quality being only one factor which affects the price. (Grönroos, 2007) Fitzgerald and Moon (1996) presents, from a management accounting perspective, a best practice framework in how to create performance measurements in professional service or-ganizations. When creating the performance measurements, the first thing is to know what goals the organization is working towards, which in turn mean that the performance meas-urements need to be aligned with the corporate strategy since it is a critical success factor creating and supporting the competitive advantage of the organization. The second step is to adopt a range of measures, financial as well as non-financial, which covers six dimen-sions of performance; financial performance, competitiveness, quality, resource utilization, flexibility, and innovation (Fitzgerald and Moon, 1996). The third step is to compare the measures with something else. Because of difficulties getting access to relevant data, one common approach is to utilize internal benchmarking. If the performance measures are to be useful they need to be comparable over time and performed on a regular basis, weekly on monthly. The organization needs to believe in these performance measures and there-fore top management need to be supporting the use of performance measurements actively in the strategizing process.

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The framework furthermore distinguishes between results and determinants of success, suggesting that financial performance is the result produced by the activity performed. Therefore the performance measurements should focus on the determinants of success such as quality, innovation and competitiveness instead of just the profit generated. Ac-cording to Fitzgerald and Moon (1996) the performance measurements in professional ser-vices can be executed through evaluating performance on a personal basis for every client account, which is possible if there a limited number of customers processed. This subjec-tive performance indicators is used because service quality in professional services is based on the individual perception of the customer. Through monitoring every customer account the organization will gain direct feedback on the quality of the service and a opportunity to develop.

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3.3 Levers of Control

Strategy is a popular “buzz word” in modern society, in business and academic settings. However the concept do often remain uncategorized and different perceptions and defini-tions are used simultaneously. To briefly describe the development in strategy it has gone from a perception of strategic planning, using a top down approach towards, creating a strategy from top management perspective and implementing it in the organization (John-son, Melin and Whittington, 2003). However the relevance of strategic planning in a dy-namic environment have been questioned by different schools of thought, suggesting other strategic approaches, such as decision making and a strategizing process (Simons 1995, Mankins and Steelse, 2007). Typical problems regarding strategic planning are that strategic planning typically occurs annually and it focuses on individual business units (Mankins and Steele, 2007). As a response to this many organizations’ make the actual strategic decisions outside the strategic planning process.

By using a broad definition of strategy and management control Simons (1995) made sig-nificant contributions to the area of strategic management accounting by introducing a new approach in Levers of control, how managers use innovative control systems to drive strategic renewal. A new way of thinking when it comes to controlling and managing the business strategy was introduced through using a holistic approach. The framework is focused on human re-sources and makes it possible to categorize management philosophies into different levers of control. Trends in management and management philosophies have been around as long as economies have been developing (Chandler, McCraw, & Tedslow 1996). These man-agement ideas and trends will eventually have an impact on, and construct, the perform-ance measurements and management control tools which are used in organizations (Si-mons, 1995).

Figure 4 Management Trends, adopted from Fitz-enz (2000)

Simons (1995) created a structured model, which can be used to order these management philosophies into four different categories. The informal management control systems such as culture, beliefs, norms and such, are often not seen as control systems within the

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organi-zation (Simons, 2000). The idea is based on a need to understand and control the different dimensions of the organization in order to align them with the strategy.

In every organization there are different forces, tensions, goals, systems, and control me-chanisms affecting the organization. A successful organization need to have a balance be-tween these different systems and the balance need to be in line with the strategy. Simons (1995) introduces four different management control systems; belief systems, boundary systems, interactive control system and a diagnostic control system.

Belief systems are used to inspire, motivate, and direct the search for new opportunities. The opposing force is called boundary systems which are creating regulations, bureaucracy, constraints, and these are often stated in negative terms (Simons, 1995). The third lever of control is the interactive control system which is more of a learning, strategizing, participa-tion, and dialog system (Simons, 2000). What is traditionally called formal management control systems is the fourth lever of control, called the diagnostic control system. The fundamental idea of the framework is the constant tension between the levers of control which is the developing force in the organization. Furthermore the different control sys-tems need to be in balance with each other and aligned with the organizational design and strategy (Simons 2005). The framework has been empirically tested and evidence that it is valid has been found valid by a number of researchers (Hyvönen, 2007).

References

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