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The Role of Accounting Information, Environment and Management Control in Multi‐National Organizations
Author(s) -
Brownell Peter
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
accounting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.645
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-629X
pISSN - 0810-5391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-629x.1987.tb00232.x
Subject(s) - dynamism , accounting , business , control (management) , parent company , accounting information system , management accounting , subsidiary , multinational corporation , economics , finance , management , quantum mechanics , physics
The results are reported of a replication and extension of the study by Brownell [1985], which focused on the effects of environmental complexity and dynamism on the use of accounting‐based controls in the U.S. parent company of a large multi‐national organization. The study reported here examines the Australian subsidiary of the company, and its results confirm previous findings, indicating that both job satisfaction and performance are enhanced in circumstances where heavy reliance on accounting‐based controls is confined to situations of low environmental complexity. The results also indicate that non‐accounting, “behavior” controls have a role in the foreign subsidiary but take on a form other than the placement of U.S. nationals in senior management positions in the subsidiary. Differences in the environment faced by the parent and subsidiary also produced predicted differences in reliance on accounting measures in performance evaluation.