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Accounting

“Pre-existing controls, organizational identities and the emergence of formal management controls in a family firm”

Abstract
This paper explores how a deeply embedded pre-existing informal control system, comprised of a strong control environment and the associated organizational identities and norms, impacts the introduction of formal management controls in a family firm dealing with tensions around succession and growth. The authors conduct a case study of a family firm whose control environment relies largely on social controls intensely rooted in Christian values and strategic controls entrenched in an entrepreneurial growth orientation. Data is collected using semi-structured interviews and subsequently examined to better understand how the deeply embedded pre-existing control environment (and its related organizational identities and norms) impact organizational members’ acceptance of a newly imposed formal control system.

The authors identified three overarching organizational identities that comprise the firm’s control system and environment. First, since the company’s inception, the firm’s Founder relied heavily on informal social controls establishing an organizational identity built on Christian values. Second, also since inception, the Founder encouraged an entrepreneurial orientation by relying on a growth-focused organizational strategy. Third, more recently, a “formal controls” orientated identity was introduced as the founder aged and succession became imminent; the reliance on formal controls was espoused by the accounting department and embraced by the second generation of the family, who viewed it as necessary to support the continuity and stability of the firm as the Founder’s involvement in day-to-day activities declined. The pre-existing informal control system (i.e., the control environment, and the related organizational identities) significantly framed how organizational members perceived and ultimately challenged the introduction of the new formal control system. The findings provide an example of how deeply embedded pre-existing informal control systems, such as strong Christian-based group identities and norms, within a family firm affect the emergence of formal management controls and create challenges for the implementation process during growth and succession.

Keywords Management control, Family firm, Performative perspective, Identity, Social controls, Formal controls
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Chris Akroyd and Heather L. Pesch "Pre-existing controls, organizational identities and the emergence of formal management controls in a family firm"

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Book
Management

“Predicting Organizational Reconfiguration”

This chapter addresses the issue of structural change within for-profit organizations, both as adaptation to changing markets and as purposeful experimentation to search for new opportunities, and builds upon the “reconfiguration” construct. In the areas of strategy, evolutionary economics, and organization theory, there are conflicting theories that either predict structural change or discuss obstacles to change. Our aim is to highlight relevant theoretical rationales for why and when organizations would, or would not, be expected to undertake structural reconfiguration. We conclude with remarks on how these literatures, together, inform our understanding of reconfiguration and organization design and provide insights for practitioners.
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Tim Carroll and S. Karim "Predicting Organizational Reconfiguration" Springer 79-97 pages 2009 View on: Google Scholar

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Academic Journal
Marketing

“Preparing for the Attack: Mitigating Risk through Routines in Armed Self-Defense”

Prior research has shown that owning firearms for self-defense can be motivated by perceived risks and a desire to mitigate those risks. Keeping and carrying guns for self-defense also introduces risks to owners and others. We examine ways that consumers mitigate these latter risks. We employ theories of practice and prior work on risky consumption to interpret observational, interview, and textual data gathered from a multi-sited ethnography of consumers of handguns for self-defense. We reveal that these consumers attempt to mitigate risks in three ways: through readiness practices with guns but no assailant, simulated scenario practices incorporating simulated assailants, and mental rehearsals incorporating imagined assailants. This research contributes a model of risk mitigation in risky consumption, explicates how social norms and mental activities foster a sense of security from specific risks, and shows that collaboration is required for development of practical understanding of risk-mitigating routines that incorporate multiple people.
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Michelle Barnhart, Aimee Dinnin Huff, Brandon McAlexander and Jim McAlexander "Preparing for the Attack: Mitigating Risk through Routines in Armed Self-Defense" Journal of the Association for Consumer Research Journal of the Association for Consumer Research 2018 View on: Google Scholar

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Academic Journal
Management

“Pride in the Workplace: An Integrative Review, Synthesis, and Future Research Agenda”

Research on the role of emotions in organizations has evolved into a major field of study over the past two decades, often referred to as the “Affective Revolution,” (e.g., Barsade, Brief, and Spataro 2003; Elfenbein 2007). Taking note, many scholars have investigated the emotion most proximally associated with workplace achievement, self-efficacy, status and rank, identity, and collective belonging: pride. Pride reflects satisfaction with one's achievements and identity, the achievements of others or groups with whom one is closely associated (e.g., an organization; Helm 2013), or the possession of attributes that are socially valued (Tracy and Robins 2004). Surprisingly, despite the abundant and rapidly growing literature on pride in a work context, a comprehensive review of the literature is notably absent. Our review integrates and distills the current state of the science across this vast and fragmented literature, spread over multiple content domains. We identify emergent themes, offer an integrated process framework of pride in a work context, help to resolve conflicting findings and ongoing debates in this literature, and provide a series of generative and theoretically grounded suggestions for meaningfully extending the literature on pride in a work context.
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Pauline Schilpzand, Alexander Hamrick, Janaki Gooty and Lei Huang "Pride in the Workplace: An Integrative Review, Synthesis, and Future Research Agenda" Journal of Organizational Behavior 2025 View on: Google Scholar

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