Entrepreneurial control and the construction of a relevant accounting

The paper reviews various frameworks for understanding management control, particularly in relation to the linkages between formal, systems-based approaches to control and more informal, social controls. The framework of Ferreira and Otley [Ferreira, A., Otley, D., 2005. The Design and Use of Management Control Systems: An Extended Framework for Analysis, Social Science Research Network. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=682984] was found to be useful in a rational-instrumental sense but has been limited to accommodating only two of Simons' [Simons, R., 1995. Levers of Control: How Managers Use Innovative Control Systems to Drive Strategic Renewal. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA] control systems: diagnostic and interactive controls. The paper concludes that a model needs to be developed that accommodates the Ferreira and Otley [Ferreira, A., Otley, D., 2005. The Design and Use of Management Control Systems: An Extended Framework for Analysis, Social Science Research Network. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=682984] 12-question framework but also recognises the importance of belief and boundary systems. Only through such a model can we understand the use of management control systems in terms of a control package that is internally consistent [Abernathy, M.A., Chua, W.F., 1996. A field study of control system “redesign”: the impact of institutional processes on strategic choice. Contemp. Acc. Res. 13, 569-581].