This paper explores the relationship between accounting and strategy in a context that is characterized by pluralistic demands and high uncertainty about outcomes. By way of an ethnographic field study in an R&D intensive company, we analyze new product development (NPD) projects and the way in...

Several studies in management control have drawn upon the concepts of coercive and enabling forms of bureaucracy (Adler and Borys 1996) to discuss how the features of a control system may affect employees' attitudes towards control. This question is relevant because enabling forms of control...

This paper investigates how multiple and competing objectives are managed within an organization, and the role that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) plays in balancing organizational objectives. The issue of achieving multiple objectives, those which represent the interest of various stakeholders,...

Greater competition has increased pressure to reduce product costs and design times. To introduce products more quickly, some companies begin designing products before all relevant design information is available and continue modifying product specifications during the design process. We...

Measuring organizational success is a continuous challenge for both academics and practitioners. Even though studies seem to support that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is widely used in many different organizations, few reports identify critical success factors that can maximize the benefits, and...

The economic survival of this country may well depend upon how effectively our firms can innovate. If this statement is remotely true, then accounting majors should be aware of the issues surrounding the successful measurement and management of a firm's innovation processes. A review of all...

Contemporary issues and alternative options on accounting for brands are the main thrusts of this paper. Thus, issues associated with accounting for brands and their effects on the financial statements or alternative financial treatments and valuations of brands on the balance sheets of...

Economists regularly decry the persistence with which firms set prices above marginal cost and thus, according to the economists, fail to maximize profits. But it is the economists who have it wrong - first, because variable accounting costs are not always a good proxy for marginal economic...

The managers and constituents of City and county councils are increasingly concerned about measuring and managing the council performance. While the use of balanced scorecard for performance management is widespread, its use is less well known in the context of city councils. This article...

"Media General and the Balanced Scorecard (A)" (UVA-C-2283) describes the impetus for and the process of implementing a balanced scorecard (BSC) in a large, publicly held, multimedia news organization. The B case (UVA-C-2284) presents a situation where a business-unit manager turns to his...