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The authors compare findings from two studies conducted in an Irish context: a survey of the usage and utilization of management tools and techniques, and a survey of the top challenges facing managers. Although there were some cases where the utilization of the tools and techniques appeared to match the challenges facing the managers, in general this was not the case. The article concludes that rationales for investing in management tools need to be explored in greater detail in order that they might better meet challenges managers face.

Concepts of accountable management in the public sector have ensured that issues relating to performance measurement have been high on the agenda of higher education institutions. Several quality initiatives are happening at the same time as universities are faced with diminishing financial support from public sources of finance. It has been suggested that higher education should look to private sector models of performance measurement in order to address important quality issues. In taking such models, the paper argues the importance of recognising that key performance indicators on their own can be dysfunctional unless they are grounded within the culture of a strategy‐focussed organisation. The paper then proposes the use of a balanced scorecard approach in order to reinforce the importance of managing rather than just monitoring performance. A balanced scorecard for a faculty of business and management is developed in order to illustrate the points being made.

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) possesses an inherent duality, as it has been described as a carrier of institutions (i.e. the BSC is a “management ideology” or “mode of thinking”) and a flexibly interpretive boundary object at the same time. This study examines how this inherent duality of the BSC may influence the unfolding rationales surrounding its implementation and use.

Empirical support for this investigation is gathered from an in-depth field study. The focal firm is a Brazilian electricity distribution company that transitioned from state to private ownership under hyper-regulation, and whose holding company experienced strategic and structural changes.

The study identified a misalignment between the characteristics of the firm (e.g. organizational logics) and the perceived BSC features. This misalignment initially produced tensions and institutional logics complexity for the organization forcing the BSC implementers to rationalize it to provide meaning regarding its implementation in the firm. The findings also show why and how the promoters of the BSC conducted its “strategy of translation” in order to disentangle and reassemble both the material and symbolic components of the BSC to facilitate its implementation and use. It was found that promoters of the BSC engaged in contextualization work, which featured two main actions: a combination of coupling and selective decoupling and a change of meaning.

This paper advances current understanding of the process of the unfolding rationales surrounding management accounting innovations (e.g. the BSC). The study shows that the BSC unfolds in more complex, time-related and simultaneous ways than has previously been reported in the literature. Moreover, the paper contributes by explaining how the management's rationales, relating to their historical understanding, perception of legitimation needs and social skills, contributed to the continuous unfolding of the BSC. In addition, four potentially interesting areas for further research were identified.

Examines the determinants of International Joint Venture marketing performance in Thailand. Uses the results from a survey of 1047 Thai‐foreign IJVs in Thailand from firms that were mainly engaged in agriculture, metal working, electrical and chemical industries. Applies exploratory factor analysis and discriminant analysis to identify these critical determinants as market characteristics, conflict, commitment, marketing orientation and organisational control.

An international archival data set resulting from a survey of workers in 27 countries is studied, examining certain individual factors affecting family-friendly work perceptions (FFWP) beginning within the USA and, then, studying FFWP across a select group of six countries, specifically comparing the USA to Bulgaria, Denmark, Japan, Russia and South Africa.

The paper reviews studies on gender differences affecting FFWP, focusing on International Social Survey Programme Work Orientation III Survey 2005.

The six-country comparative analysis shows differences: in the demographic factors in the effects of gender, age and marital status, and the work context factors of number of work hours and type of employer on FFWP; FFWP for those who are self-employed (entrepreneurs), government workers, those working for public companies and those working for private companies and self-employed (entrepreneurial) workers show greater appreciation for family-friendly work practices than those who are government workers and those working for public and private companies.

Limitations of this research include the drawbacks of using secondary data such as the method of data collection, the quality of cross-national data and the fit between the manifest variable survey responses with the latent construct.

Managers need to be aware of the importance of family-friendly work practices to their employee base. Failure to match the desired level of FFWP could lead to a less productive and unhappy workforce.

Cultural effects were found in the results, indicating that demographics have differing effects across cultures, but workplace factors are constant across cultures.

The paper provides valuable information on gender differences across cultures.

Absenteeism is a costly behavior that occurs around the world. However, in spite of the growth in cross‐cultural research in organizational research and in global businesses, very few studies have examined absenteeism from a cross‐cultural perspective. This study examined the effect of national culture on absenteeism using a sample of 17,842 respondents from 24 countries. Based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions, we postulated that uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism, and masculinity will be negatively related to absenteeism. Similarly, based on the GLOBE cultural dimensions, we proposed that there will be positive relationships between societal collectivism and assertiveness, and absenteeism. However, we hypothesized that in‐group collectivism and gender egalitarianism will have negative relationships with absenteeism. To test our cross‐level hypotheses, we used Hierarchical Linear Modeling. Our results indicated that with the exception of uncertainty avoidance and assertiveness, all our hypothesized relationships were supported. Consistent findings were obtained for the common elements of both the Hofstede and GLOBE cultural dimensions, demonstrating convergence of our findings. We offer theoretical and practical implications of our study and suggest future research directions in the culture‐absenteeism link

This paper sets out to introduce the special issue on management controls and new organisational forms. It summarises and reflects on themes and findings raised in the papers in the issue.

The findings reported in the paper are based on desk research and review of the papers contained in the issue.

The paper finds that management control systems can perform various coordinating and governance roles in managing new organisational forms. However, management control systems designers must be aware of the complexities of these new organisational arrangements.

The paper is a summary of studies exploring the roles of management controls in new organisational forms. The issues addressed in these studies are important in furthering our understanding of the changing roles of management control systems.

Dr E. John Cullen, deputy managing director of chemicals manufacturer Rohm and Haas (UK) Ltd since 1971, has been named as the company's new managing director and chief executive. He took over on June 1 from Mr C. B. Pyle who is returning to the United States as marketing manager of the Plastics Division at Rohm and Haas Company headquarters in Philadelphia.

Inter‐firm relationships are increasingly being adopted as competitive tools. However, the challenges created by these relationships for the design and use of management control systems (MCS) have been well documented. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the literature on MCS and inter‐firm relationships. The review examines the types of relationships studied and the theoretical approaches.

The findings reported in the paper are based on desk research. The review is largely concentrated on the key international English language accounting journals.

Supply chain and outsourcing have been the dominant forms of inter‐firm relationships studied. Other studies have focused on joint ventures and networks. Transaction cost economics has been the dominant approach and trust has also featured as a theoretical issue in most of the studies.

The paper furthers the understanding of the contributions made by previous studies on MCS and inter‐firm relationships. Some suggestions for future research are offered at the end.

The present study investigated whether questionnaires using explicit midpoints produce different results for different cultural groups. We hypothesized that managers from China, Japan, and Hong Kong (CJH) respond differently to Western management scales than do managers from the US., Germany, and United Kingdom (UGU). We found differences in central tendency (the likelihood of choosing the midpoint in overall variance between these groups). Using scales with even numbered response categories (thus removing the explicit midpoint) decreases the central tendencies of the CJH group and increases the variance in the responses to Western management questionnaire. Results suggested that when survey questionnaires are used in CJH cultures, careful consideration should be given to the choice between scales with even‐numbered response categories and those with odd‐numbered response categories.