RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT CONTROL 289
the ‘glass ceiling’ still exists. The implications of these changes on MCSs remains
to be researched.
Conclusions
This paper extends previous reviews of the area of management control and
provides some suggestions for further research. Our suggestions stem from the
belief that the practice and researching of management control needs to recognize
the environment in which organizations exist and to loosen the boundaries
around the area of concern. We are also anxious to promote more critical research.
Undoubtedly some of the narrowness of the research in the topic which we have
highlighted is the result of our choice of definition of management control which
remains rather managerialist in its focus. It is clear that the field of management
control is of relevance to the practice of management but this should not preclude
a critical stance and thus a broader choice of theoretical approaches.
The area is also under researched, which might be explained by the nature of the
methodologies required for its study and their unpopularity over the last 25 years
especially in the US. This indicates a significant opportunity for contributions,
offering a broader set of methodological stances, to be made in an important and
developing field. In conclusion, we hope that this paper might play a small part in
defining and developing management control as a coherent field of study within
the management disciplines.
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