This paper explores the nature of audit automation as control within audit firms. The themes of the paper are control over the work process and audit staff, deskilling and resistance, and competition, which are analysed using the theoretical framework provided by Coombs et al., who applied...

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse the relationship between intellectual capital and financial capital using a case study. This makes it possible to discuss how intellectual capital is related to value creation with a degree of nuance that is absent from most statistical studies of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the dynamic development of technical controls in different companies and to interpret the observations using Van de Ven and Poole's typology of change process theories. Design/methodology/approach – Case study data were obtained through...

Explores management control and accounting systems of three successfully competing companies to gain deeper insight and fill knowledge gaps. Results show that management control and accounting systems do exist which enhance successful competition. Common features are heavy influence of marketing...

Surveys the field research literature in management accounting and control (MAC) published in the period 1984‐1992. Proposes a definition of field research and compares the 82 published works that meet this definition with respect to their motivations, research designs and presentation...

The paper employs a critical version of Abbott’s “system of professions” in order to analyse how new management practices in UK clearing banks have been influenced by competing bodies of expert knowledge promoted by the banks’ own profession, their senior management and outside...

People reason, learn and persuade in two distinct modes – through stories (narration) and by numbers (calculation). In everyday life narration is privileged over calculation. We understand our lives through narratives, narrating experiences first to ourselves – to convince others – and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between management controls and the work-life balance (WLB) of junior accountants working in four multinational accounting firms using semi-structured interviews. Design/methodology/approach – The authors interviewed junior...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how management control (MC) within governmental departments is used in times of austerity, and how insights from agency and stewardship theory can enhance the understanding of this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The authors distinguish...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline an agenda for researching the relationship between technology-enabled networks – such as social media and big data – and the accounting function. In doing so, it links the contents of an unfolding area research with the papers published in this...