TY  - JOUR
T1  - Imprinting founders' blueprints on management control systems
JF  - Management Accounting Research
Y1  - 2020
A1  - Akroyd,Chris
A1  - Kober,Ralph
KW  - Accounting
AB  - In this paper we seek to understand the influence of founders on the design and use of management control systems (MCS) through a theoretical lens known as imprinting. The organizational literature shows that founders are a source of imprinting, since their unique background informs the blueprint for their organization, which can affect patterns of organizational design and development. We undertake a case study of an innovative early-stage growth-focused manufacturing firm established by founders who espoused a commitment blueprint (one of five possible blueprints). Founders who have a commitment blueprint aim to establish a workplace where employees feel an intense emotional attachment to each other and the firm and are passionate about the firm’s vision. We examine how founders’ commitment blueprint influences the design and use of MCS. We show that the imprint of a founder’s commitment blueprint is reflected in the design and use of cultural controls and employee selection to establish a workplace that fosters an intense emotional attachment and identification comparable to a family’s, with an organizational culture where employees are committed and passionate about the firm. While these controls have previously been shown to make up the central components of a commitment blueprint, our results reveal a reliance on cultural controls and employee selection is not exclusive, but supported and reinforced through managers’ design and use of personnel controls, results controls, action controls, penalties, and informal controls. We also find a reluctance to implement controls that are seen as bureaucratic, since it is felt they would negatively influence the organizational culture.
VL  - 46
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044500519300228
U2  - a
U4  - 106372657152
ID  - 106372657152
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The emergence of management controls in an entrepreneurial company
JF  - Accounting and Finance
Y1  - 2019
A1  - Akroyd,Chris
A1  - Kober,Ralph
A1  - Li,Danni
KW  - Accounting
AB  - The dilemma faced by founders of entrepreneurial companies is how to scale their business while staying in control. While the accounting literature has found that financial controls are important to rapidly scale a business, we do not know how these controls emerge in entrepreneurial companies in relation to other management controls. Using a case study of an entrepreneurial company that rapidly scaled its business, this study examines the management controls that emerged to become a package of controls. We highlight the importance of the management control package remaining in balance, with controls working together interdependently in a complementary fashion.
VL  - 59
UR  - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acfi.12477
CP  - 3
U2  - a
U4  - 162610606080
ID  - 162610606080
ER  - 

TY  - HEAR
T1  - How founders’ organizational blueprints influence the emergence of management control systems in an early stage firm.
Y1  - 2018
A1  - Akroyd,Chris
A1  - Kober,Ralph
KW  - Accounting
JA  - Global Management Accounting Research Symposium
CY  - Copenhagen, Denmark
U2  - c
U4  - 166199701504
ID  - 166199701504
ER  - 

TY  - HEAR
T1  - The emergence and utilisation of management control systems in a high growth firm
Y1  - 2012
A1  - Akroyd,Chris
A1  - Kober,Ralph
KW  - Accounting
JA  - American Accounting Association Annual Meeting
CY  - Washington DC
U2  - c
U4  - 69575600128
ID  - 69575600128
ER  - 

TY  - HEAR
T1  - Trust and control: The case of a high-growth firm
Y1  - 2012
A1  - Akroyd,Chris
A1  - Kober,Ralph
KW  - Accounting
JA  - American Accounting Association Annual Meeting
CY  - Washington DC
U2  - c
U4  - 69575692288
ID  - 69575692288
ER  -