Article Abstract:
The way in which managers react to opportunity cost information is influenced by their cognitive style and their sponsorship of a project. The two factors affect managers' decisions about opportunity costs when opportunity cost implications are implicit. The impact of managers' cognitive style on their opportunity cost decisions was investigated by surveying 64 middle- to senior-level managers. Of the respondents, 34 received sponsorship cues, while 30 did not. The results indicated that the influence of cognitive style on opportunity cost decisions was moderated by sponsorship. Intuitive managers incorporated opportunity costs into their decisions, while sensation mangers focused on the directness of the expenditure-project relationship when determining the relevance of costs.
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Article Abstract:
An ethnographic analysis of efficiency auditing in practice investigated the operationalization of this concept in three projects. The ethnographic study was supported by an examination of archival materials regarding such topics as agreed upon standards and audit procedures. This study suggests that the auditors dealt with the lack of specific rules or standards by cultivating an agreed upon knowledge and sensibility that enabled them to perform efficiency auditing. It also found that the social interpretation of efficiency was critical to their understanding of what is or is not efficient. This social interpretation is argued to be present in other forms of efficiency, which implies that efficiency is not necessarily an agreed upon, absolute concept.
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Article Abstract:
Robert Simons' paper on the connection between strategic planning and management control systems provides a detailed description of the control systems in two firms and points out the effects of strategic controls on strategy formation, but fails to completely specify the relationships between strategies, strategic uncertainties, and management controls. His paper also fails to elaborate on the impact of management controls on strategy formation.
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