Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia

With the rapidly changing and increasingly more competitive environment, the role of a management control system (MCS) in an organization in providing information feedback to management for monitoring the effectiveness and appropriateness of the organization's competitive strategy to achieve i...

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Main Author: Foong, Soon Yau
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2000
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/1/Alignment_of_Management_Control_System_to_Corporate_Competitive.pdf
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author Foong, Soon Yau
author_facet Foong, Soon Yau
author_sort Foong, Soon Yau
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description With the rapidly changing and increasingly more competitive environment, the role of a management control system (MCS) in an organization in providing information feedback to management for monitoring the effectiveness and appropriateness of the organization's competitive strategy to achieve its goals is becoming more important. This study examines the extent of usage of various management control measures and the compatibility of these control measures with the competitive priorities or orientations of firms. A structured questionnaire was prepared and randomly sent to 250 organizations in the Klang Valley. A total of 93 usable responses were analyzed. The results show that organizations, generally, perceived competition based on product price, quality and service/promotion to be more intense than that based on product variety and innovation. Consistent to their perceived intensity of competition, their competitive priorities or orientations also stressed more highly on competition based on low price, high quality and service, with a much lower emphasis on wide product variety and product uniqueness. Except for an apparent pervasive high usage of the "budget vs. actual" financial control measure, there was a fairly balanced usage of accounting-based controls and modern management practices for monitoring, evaluating and controlling the organizational activities. Small enterprises tended to adopt less formal management control systems and had less extensive usage of the various control measures than the large firms. Evidence of a lack of proper alignment or incompatibilities in the usage of certain management control measures was indicated in this study. The implications of the findings are discussed.
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spelling upm-32642015-09-10T10:48:24Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/ Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia Foong, Soon Yau With the rapidly changing and increasingly more competitive environment, the role of a management control system (MCS) in an organization in providing information feedback to management for monitoring the effectiveness and appropriateness of the organization's competitive strategy to achieve its goals is becoming more important. This study examines the extent of usage of various management control measures and the compatibility of these control measures with the competitive priorities or orientations of firms. A structured questionnaire was prepared and randomly sent to 250 organizations in the Klang Valley. A total of 93 usable responses were analyzed. The results show that organizations, generally, perceived competition based on product price, quality and service/promotion to be more intense than that based on product variety and innovation. Consistent to their perceived intensity of competition, their competitive priorities or orientations also stressed more highly on competition based on low price, high quality and service, with a much lower emphasis on wide product variety and product uniqueness. Except for an apparent pervasive high usage of the "budget vs. actual" financial control measure, there was a fairly balanced usage of accounting-based controls and modern management practices for monitoring, evaluating and controlling the organizational activities. Small enterprises tended to adopt less formal management control systems and had less extensive usage of the various control measures than the large firms. Evidence of a lack of proper alignment or incompatibilities in the usage of certain management control measures was indicated in this study. The implications of the findings are discussed. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2000-09 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/1/Alignment_of_Management_Control_System_to_Corporate_Competitive.pdf Foong, Soon Yau (2000) Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 8 (2). pp. 91-102. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/view_archives.php?journal=JSSH-8-2-9
spellingShingle Foong, Soon Yau
Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia
title Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia
title_full Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia
title_fullStr Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia
title_short Alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in Malaysia
title_sort alignment of management control system to corporate competitive orientation: some empirical evidence in malaysia
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/3264/1/Alignment_of_Management_Control_System_to_Corporate_Competitive.pdf