University of Canterbury Home
    • Admin
    UC Research Repository
    UC Library
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    1. UC Home
    2. Library
    3. UC Research Repository
    4. UC Business School | Te Kura Umanga
    5. Business: Journal Articles
    6. View Item
    1. UC Home
    2.  > 
    3. Library
    4.  > 
    5. UC Research Repository
    6.  > 
    7. UC Business School | Te Kura Umanga
    8.  > 
    9. Business: Journal Articles
    10.  > 
    11. View Item

    The MCS package in a non-budgeting organisation: A case study of Mainfreight (2016)

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Accepted version (593.3Kb)
    Type of Content
    Journal Article
    UC Permalink
    https://hdl.handle.net/10092/103448
    
    Publisher's DOI/URI
    http://doi.org/10.1108/QRAM-09-2014-0056
    
    Publisher
    Emerald
    ISSN
    1176-6093
    Language
    en
    Collections
    • Business: Journal Articles [314]
    Authors
    O'Grady W
    Akroyd, Chris cc
    show all
    Abstract

    Purpose - Budgets are commonly viewed as a central component of management control systems (MCS). The beyond budgeting literature argues that managers can develop other controls to replace budgets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the MCS package of an organisation which has never in its history had a traditional budget. Design/methodology/approach - The authors carry out an ethnomethodology informed case study at Mainfreight, a large multinational logistics company headquartered in New Zealand. Data were collected from interviews with managers and accountants, internal company documents, published corporate histories, a company presentation, the corporate Web site and site visits. Findings - The authors found that Mainfreight's MCS package was explicitly designed based on cultural and administrative systems which supported the planning, cybernetic and reward systems managers used to monitor key drivers of short-and long-term performance with a focus on profitability. Research limitations/implications - The implication of the finding is that a more holistic view of the MCS package is necessary to understand how control is achieved within organisations that have moved beyond budgeting. Practical implications - The authors show that organisations can operate without traditional budgets and still maintain a high level of control by developing appropriate cultural and administrative control systems that are internally consistent with their planning, cybernetic and reward systems. Originality/value - The scarcity of organisations that have never had budgets limits opportunities to investigate an MCS package intended to function without budgets. This unique case setting reveals the design of an integrated non-budgeting MCS package.

    Citation
    O'Grady W, Akroyd C (2016). The MCS package in a non-budgeting organisation: A case study of Mainfreight. Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management. 13(1). 2-30.
    This citation is automatically generated and may be unreliable. Use as a guide only.
    ANZSRC Fields of Research
    35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3507 - Strategy, management and organisational behaviour::350701 - Corporate governance
    35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3501 - Accounting, auditing and accountability::350101 - Accounting theory and standards
    35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3501 - Accounting, auditing and accountability::350105 - Management accounting
    35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3507 - Strategy, management and organisational behaviour::350711 - Organisational planning and management
    35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3503 - Business systems in context::350303 - Business information systems
    35 - Commerce, management, tourism and services::3503 - Business systems in context::350304 - Business systems in context
    Rights
    All rights reserved unless otherwise stated
    http://hdl.handle.net/10092/17651

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Packages of management control systems, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance in Brazilian startups 

      Frare AB; Cruz APCD; Lavarda CEF; Akroyd, Chris (Emerald, 2021)
      Purpose: This study aims to understand the relationship between the elements of a startup firms’ management control system (MCS) package, its entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach: ...
    • Beyond Budgeting: Distinguishing Modes of Adaptive Performance Management 

      O’Grady W; Scott I; Akroyd, Chris (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2017)
      Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes organizations can adopt to move beyond budgeting. We show how these changes can be understood as modes of adaptive performance management which explain the ...
    • ERP systems and management accounting: New understandings through “nudging” in qualitative research 

      Spraakman G; O’Grady W; Askarany D; Akroyd, Chris (Emerald, 2018)
      Purpose: This paper aims to show how our understanding of the effects of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on management accounting are influenced through “nudging” by researchers in their preamble before interviews ...
    Advanced Search

    Browse

    All of the RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThesis DisciplineThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThesis Discipline

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • Research Outputs
    • UC Theses
    • CONTACTS
    • Send Feedback
    • +64 3 369 3853
    • ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz
    • ABOUT
    • UC Research Repository Guide
    • Copyright and Disclaimer
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • Research Outputs
    • UC Theses
    • CONTACTS
    • Send Feedback
    • +64 3 369 3853
    • ucresearchrepository@canterbury.ac.nz
    • ABOUT
    • UC Research Repository Guide
    • Copyright and Disclaimer