Accounting for Managers: Interpreting Accounting Information for Decision Making, 4th Edition

Reading B

Otley, D. T., Broadbent, J. and Berry, A. J. (1995). Research in management control: an overview of its development. British Journal of Management, 6, Special Issue, S31–S44. © John Wiley & Sons, Limited. Reproduced with permission.

Questions

1. What is the distinction made by Otley et al. between management control and financial control?

2. What is the contribution of systems theory to an understanding of management control?

3. How does Scott’s distinction between open and closed, rational and natural models help to categorize the accounting literature, and why is any such categorization important?

4. Why does an emphasis on accounting limit an understanding of the broader importance of management control? What contribution can non-financial performance management make to our understanding of management control within organizations?

Further reading

Berry, A. J., Broadbent, J. and Otley, D. (Eds). (1995). Management Control: Theories, Issues and Practices. London: Macmillan.

Fitzgerald, L., Johnston, R., Brignall, S., Silvestro, R. and Voss, C. (1991). Performance Measurement in Service Businesses. London: Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Hopper, T., Otley, D. and Scapens, B. (2001). British management accounting research: whence and whither: opinions and recollections. British Accounting Review, 33, 263–91.

Humphrey, C. and Scapens, R. W. (1996). Theories and case studies of organizational and accounting practices: limitation or liberation? Accounting, ...