Management Accounting and Control Systems

Book excerpt: This book is about the design and working of management accounting and control systems from an organizational sociology perspective. It does not deal with the application of quantitative techniques; instead the focus is on the organizational and people side of accounting and control systems--how they are used to influence, motivate and control what people do in organizations. The author's highly successful first book on this topic, The Social Software of Accounting and Information Systems (Wiley, 1985) was much acclaimed for its lucid style and careful analysis of the application of theory in practice. This new book offers that same clarity and accessibility in a study which focuses on new developments in organizational sociology at the macro level. The book outlines nearly twenty frameworks for investigating and understanding management accounting and control systems. These frameworks illustrate five distinctive paradigms of organizations and the social world. Case studies are used to bring these frameworks to life and to show how they can be used to analyze, diagnose and resolve real world management accounting and control systems problems and issues. Norman B. Macintosh is a professor at Queen's University, Canada where he teaches in accounting and control. "If you want to know what has been happening at the frontiers of management control research then you could not do better than starting with this book. The exposition is not only of value to scholars on upper level courses grappling with current theory and research but also to the thinking creative executive involved in control system design in today's changing and turbulent business environment. The book is an essential addition to the bookshelf of any management control specialist seeking intellectual stimulation through ideas coupled to practical implementation." Professor Trevor Hopper University of Manchester, UK "This book is required reading for any practitioner or student who desires a sophisticated and intellectually challenging understanding of management accounting." Richard J Boland, Jr Case Western Reserve University, USA "In these days of globalisation and intensified interaction between management cultures the interest in the behavioural and social side of management accounting and control is growing. This is a timely and exciting addition to that literature. The book is recommended as required reading in advanced courses and for professional management accounting programs. A fine volume." Sten Jonsson University of Gothenburg, Sweden