Factors associated with the design of management control systems

Abstract

Aiming to identify the factors associated with the design of the Management Control System, the predominant paradigms of management accounting were analyzed, as defined by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). It was considered in the analysis beyond the paradigms, the sector of the economy and the gross sales of 94 companies in southern Brazil. The results obtained from the homogeneity analysis (HOMALS) suggest that industrial companies with the highest turnover are more likely to adopt practices which position their control systems to the paradigm of value creation when compared to commercial or service companies (third and fourth stages). It was also realized that service sector companies are more associated with control practices considered traditional (first and second stages). It identified the trend of commercial companies with the highest turnover adopt the paradigm of management accounting to reduce the waste of production resources (third stage). Alone, the sector and size variables of enterprises were not enough to explain the relationship with the adoption of a particular practice of management accounting. Overall, the study contributes to the reflection about the factors that induce control practices that explain the MCS design adopted by companies.