This thesis studies private equity firms' implementation of Management control systems in their portfolio companies and whether the systems are affected by cross-national differences. A comparative case study examines five different private equity firms to derive if there are any differences between the private equity firms' Management control systems in the United States, Europe and China. The empirical observations are categorized according to the framework developed by Merchant (1985) and further developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003). Theory on the effect of multinationality on Management control systems, also developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003), are used to explain possible findings. The applied theory includes the cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede (1984) and Hofstede and Bond (1988).

This thesis examines the approach for implementing strategy that has been applied by the study object, Svenska Spel. The specific approach originates from the theories of Elliot Jaques, whose key proposal is that individuals have different capability of carrying out tasks over different time-spans. The main purpose of the study is to analyze how the approach has influenced the Management control systems in use, in order to ensure that the strategy is successfully implemented on corporate as well as operational level. Twenty in debt interviews conducted with employees, representing a vertical cross section throughout the organization, are the main source of the study?s empirical foundation.

This thesis studies the concept of balance in the Management control systems (MCS) of a small Swedish company within the IT-sector. The aim is to evaluate the importance of balance and dynamics in MCS and investigate which factors affect them. The frameworks used are Simons (1994) four levers of control, and the five-factor model for balance and dynamics by Mundy (2010). The small IT company - the object of the case study - has grown extensively in the last years and needs to develop more formal MCS without losing efficiency and creativity in their fast-moving industry. The case study reveals that balancing MCS is important also in smaller companies with less formal MCS.

Background: Many companies have outsourced their IT-operations and their expectations of what this IT-outsourcing will contribute to the business are high. Cost cuts are not always a natural outcome of IT-outsourcing. Many companies that have outsourced their IT-operations consider it to be problematic and complex to exercise Management control and reach cost control which was the purpose of the IT-outsourcing. Purpose: To describe and analyze what affect IT-outsourcing has on a company?s Management control system and a company?s possibility to exercise cost control.

Municipalities must establish budget annually but they are free to decide how the governance should be designed, this can lead to lack of consistency and measurability within and between municipalities. The purpose of this thesis was to present a proposal for a unified and more measurable financial structure of a municipality where this was lacking. In our theory we describe the issues of traditional Management control and we introduce an alternative control with non-financial ratios included, called the Balanced Scorecard. In the empirical data it is investigated how the governance of a municipality could be designed, according to the respondents. In the analysis the information gathered to reach the answers to what are considered to be useful governance in municipality, are examined. In the conclusion, we design Balanced Scorecards with both financial and non-financial ratios to the councils of the municipality..

The aim of this thesis is to examine what factors that influences the Management control in a family business operating in a sector in which they are under-represented. We have therefore conducted a case study of a family business in the finance sector, E. Öhman J: or Fondkommission AB (Öhman). The first conclusion is that the Management control in Öhman is influenced by the environment and the increasing size of the company. We have found, however, that it is to an even larger extent affected by the fact that it is a family business even though the company is operating in a sector in which family businesses are not the norm.

Background: Diabetes is a common disease where the degree of self-management is of paramount importance. Individual factors influences both cooping and general wellbeing among diabetic patients. Glycemic control is known to be important but other factors ought to be considered. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe how individual self-management influences the general wellbeing among adult diabetic patients. Method: This literature study is based on scientific articles.

This bachelor thesis aims to analyse the effects of changes in Management control systems following acquisitions, and deduce whether or not these effects are in line with the acquiring firm's objectives of the acquisition. Through a case study of technician consultant firm Energo, acquired in 2010 by ÅF, the study assumes the perspective of the acquired firm. Data has been collected through in-depth interviews at Energo and ÅF and complemented by internal documents to enrich and validate specific facts and statements. Data was then arranged and analysed through Otley and Fierriera's (2009) framework Performance Management Systems to understand how Management control systems were constituted before the acquisition, what changes were made following the acquisition, how this process was accomplished and how it was experienced, in order to come to conclusions about the effects of these changes. The study concludes that the changes in Energo's Management control system following the integration with ÅF, had significant effects on the outcome of the acquisition, primarily as it led to a high rate of Energo's employees resigning.

As collaboration between companies move beyond the single transaction into more long-term relationships the consequences of a company's control system become more complex. The aim of this paper is to provide an understanding of how intra- and inter-organizational control and work practices interact through examining how a company's intra-organizational control influences its customer relationships. The empirical research is performed through a qualitative case study where interviews have been conducted with management and sales staff within the case company as well as with one of the customers. The empirical findings have been analyzed using frameworks and theories regarding Management control and customer relationships. The study reveals that the intra-organizational control of the case company affects its relationships with customers in a number of ways.

The purpose of this thesis is to find means of control that secure cost efficiency regarding the accommodation for the employees on missions abroad of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Today the ministry?s cost for the employees? rented housing is 100 million SEK and there is a need of improvement in the control of these costs. A work method for organizational development will be used in order to reach the findings presented in the thesis. First we study the strengths and weaknesses in today?s control system.

AbstractTitle:The Impact of Management control Systems on the Purchaser Function - A study of Scania and Sandvik Authors: Mohammad Reza Akhbari and Johanna Sullivan Svensson Published: 2011 Keywords: Management control, purchasing function, impact, control, control instruments, Key Performance Indicators, measurement, communication and organizational structure. Background and problem formulation: In order for a company?s business idea or vision to be fulfilled, the management of a company needs assistance from various means to intentionally affect the operation in the desired direction. Management control concerns activities of both financial and non-financial character in order to implement the strategy of a company and to reach profitability. Since the purchaser function is responsible of spending 50 percent of a company?s total revenue, the function has an optimal starting point to be a key actor in the shaping and execution of a company?s strategic plan.

The National Property Board (SFV) has been appointed by the Swedish government to administer all property of cultural value owned by the Swedes collectively. The commission includes maintaining the soul and character of each individual building, to adapt these buildings to present needs and requirements, and furthermore making them available to the public. The return on equity demanded by the government is based on the CAPM used within the real estate industry. The theoretical assumption that organizations are either function-driven or pay-driven will serve as a starting point, after which SFV will be defined as a function-driven organization with a pay-formed Management control system. This paper aims to examine how applying a pay-formed Management control system will affect a function-driven organization.

The purpose with this study is that examine if the contingency factors as sort of market and competition can affect the companies, which means of control they apply..

The purpose of this research is to examine the implications of the provisions in the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance (the Code) concerning auditor attestation of the internal control report. We will focus on how the auditors? augmented responsibilities will affect the efficiency in the audit process.Our research indicates that the main benefit from reviewing the internal control report is achieving more reliable internal controls, which results in greater prevention of misstatements in the financial statements. This will affect the efficiency in the audit process since the auditor can place more reliance on internal controls when performing audit procedures. This implies that the benefits of preventing misstatements could outweigh the efforts and resources spent on reviewing the internal control report..

Bachelor thesis, Controller, Program of Master of Science in Business and Economics, School of Business and Economics at Linneaus University in Växjö, Sweden, Course Code: 2FE13E:3, Spring 2012 Authors: Jacob Cedergren, Adam Pettersson, Hampus SkelterwijkSupervisor: Anders JerrelingTitle: The ERP-systems impact of the Management control - a case study of VIDA AB Original Title: Affärssystemens påverkan på ekonomistyrningen - en fallstudie på VIDA ABBackground: New technology has given businesses new opportunities to use and store information and the current information systems has changed the way of working in more or less all sectors and operations. ERP-systems have been one of the most important IT innovations in the past decade. The potential of a properly implemented ERP-system is great because it has got the ability to link the company?s different areas together. Despite its many advantages, there are several examples of cases where the acquisition and implementation has been a total failure.