TY - JOUR TI - The impact of society on management control systems AB - The aim of this study is to investigate whether certain configurations of management controls dominate in certain societies (socio-cultural contexts) and whether the effectiveness of a given archetype of management control systems (MCSs) varies depending on the socio-cultural setting—the society—in which it operates. The study focuses on three socio-cultural groups and the corresponding institutional contexts (an Anglo-Saxon group, a Central European group, and a Northern European group) and three MCS archetypes (delegated bureaucratic control, delegated output control, and programmable output control). We use unique data from a cross-national, interview-based survey encompassing 610 strategic business units from nine countries (seven European countries plus Canada and Australia). The idea that firms tend to adapt MCSs to the socio-cultural context does not gain empirical support in this study. No significant differences in the distribution of MCSs between the three socio-cultural groups are noted. However, we do find that programmable output control has a more positive impact on effectiveness in Anglo-Saxon cultures, while delegated output control has a more positive impact on effectiveness in Northern Europe. Taken together these findings indicate that distinct differences between societies make a particular MCS design more appropriate in a given society, but where such differences are not dramatic (as in the present case), multiple MCS designs can be found in the same society. DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2017.08.002 SP - 253 EP - 266 UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956522116303086 PY - 2017-01-01 JO - Scandinavian Journal of Management AU - Greve, Jan AU - Ax, Christian AU - Bedford, David S. AU - Bednarek, Piotr AU - Brühl, Rolf AU - Dergard, Johan AU - Ditillo, Angelo AU - Dossi, Andrea AU - Gosselin, Maurice AU - Hozee, Sophie AU - Israelson, Poul AU - Janschek, Otto AU - Johanson, Daniel AU - Johansson, Tobias AU - Madsen, Dag Ovind AU - Malmi, Teemu AU - Rohde, Carsten AU - Sandelin, Mikko AU - Strömsten, Torkel AU - Toldblod, Thomas AU - Willert, Jeannette ER -