{"title":"Navigating management control change: pathways to the future of work","authors":"Michelle Carr, Stefan Jooss","doi":"10.1108/aaaj-08-2022-6005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Purpose COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements and adapt their ways of working. Yet, we know little about how management control might be enacted in the future of the sustainable workplace. The objective of the study is to examine the patterns of management control change in the Big 4 accounting firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Adopting an exploratory qualitative research design, the authors draw on 42 interviews with directors and associates in the Big 4 professional services firms. Findings The findings reveal two pathways of management control change including alignment and displacement. The authors found that relatively minor adaptions to action and result controls were relied upon to respond to substantial cultural and personnel control changes. Originality/value The contributions are threefold: the authors take a temporal perspective to (1) unpack the changes to management control arrangements; (2) theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways encompassing pace, scope and longevity of management control change and (3) contextualise management control arrangements in a hybrid work setting. Highlights COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements. Literature has focused on traditional, onsite work settings and largely ignored change pathways. The authors take a temporal perspective to unpack changes to management control arrangements. Big 4 firms adapted to hybrid work with substantial changes to personnel and cultural controls. The authors theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways.","PeriodicalId":48311,"journal":{"name":"Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-08-2022-6005","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements and adapt their ways of working. Yet, we know little about how management control might be enacted in the future of the sustainable workplace. The objective of the study is to examine the patterns of management control change in the Big 4 accounting firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach Adopting an exploratory qualitative research design, the authors draw on 42 interviews with directors and associates in the Big 4 professional services firms. Findings The findings reveal two pathways of management control change including alignment and displacement. The authors found that relatively minor adaptions to action and result controls were relied upon to respond to substantial cultural and personnel control changes. Originality/value The contributions are threefold: the authors take a temporal perspective to (1) unpack the changes to management control arrangements; (2) theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways encompassing pace, scope and longevity of management control change and (3) contextualise management control arrangements in a hybrid work setting. Highlights COVID-19 has forced Big 4 firms to challenge existing management control arrangements. Literature has focused on traditional, onsite work settings and largely ignored change pathways. The authors take a temporal perspective to unpack changes to management control arrangements. Big 4 firms adapted to hybrid work with substantial changes to personnel and cultural controls. The authors theorise the findings by developing a three-dimensional taxonomy of change pathways.
期刊介绍:
Dedicated to the advancement of accounting knowledge, the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal publishes high quality manuscripts concerning the interaction between accounting/auditing and their socio-economic and political environments, encouraging critical analysis of policy and practice in these areas. The journal also seeks to encourage debate about the philosophies and traditions which underpin the accounting profession, the implications of new policy alternatives and the impact of accountancy on the socio-economic and political environment.