@article {1968246,
	title = {Imprinting founders{\textquoteright} blueprints on management control systems},
	journal = {Management Accounting Research},
	volume = {46},
	year = {2020},
	month = {2020},
	abstract = {In this paper we seek to understand the influence of founders on the design and use of management control systems (MCS) through a theoretical lens known as imprinting. The organizational literature shows that founders are a source of imprinting, since their unique background informs the blueprint for their organization, which can affect patterns of organizational design and development. We undertake a case study of an innovative early-stage growth-focused manufacturing firm established by founders who espoused a commitment blueprint (one of five possible blueprints). Founders who have a commitment blueprint aim to establish a workplace where employees feel an intense emotional attachment to each other and the firm and are passionate about the firm{\textquoteright}s vision. We examine how founders{\textquoteright} commitment blueprint influences the design and use of MCS. We show that the imprint of a founder{\textquoteright}s commitment blueprint is reflected in the design and use of cultural controls and employee selection to establish a workplace that fosters an intense emotional attachment and identification comparable to a family{\textquoteright}s, with an organizational culture where employees are committed and passionate about the firm. While these controls have previously been shown to make up the central components of a commitment blueprint, our results reveal a reliance on cultural controls and employee selection is not exclusive, but supported and reinforced through managers{\textquoteright} design and use of personnel controls, results controls, action controls, penalties, and informal controls. We also find a reluctance to implement controls that are seen as bureaucratic, since it is felt they would negatively influence the organizational culture.},
	keywords = {Accounting},
	url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044500519300228},
	author = {Akroyd,Chris and Kober,Ralph}
}
