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Taking as reference a sample of around a hundred biographical materials on entrepreneurs in Mexico and Colombia, the purpose of this chapter is dual. Both to show the relevance and varied modalities that the biographical approach has enjoyed in business history research since the 1990s, and to display the intrinsic potential this modality of scholarship entails for entrepreneurship endeavors. In particular, it discusses the prospects to incorporate this body of empirical works into the large Latin American audience attending undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs in business, economic history and related fields. The chapter is organized into three sections. The first two are devoted to illustrate relevant patterns in the entrepreneurial trajectory of individuals and entrepreneurial families studied in each of the two countries under consideration. The last section identifies some conceptual issues that may impact current debates on Latin American business development as exemplified in recent business and economic history journal venues and scholarly conferences.

The aim of this chapter is to highlight the role of organizational reflectiveness as a possible enabler for innovation. In order to support the process of innovation, we need to understand organizational learning on a more detailed level, including reflection as an elemental sub-process in experiential, transformational, and action learning.

We present a tool and preliminary empirical findings for measuring an organization’s level of reflectiveness. We also provide some preliminary empirical results regarding whether reflectivity results in the generation of new innovations relating to work practices and processes.

The chapter fills two research gaps, and in doing so contributes to measuring and controlling organizational learning and innovation activities. First, we complement the existing conceptualization of reflective practice by utilizing the management control system (MCS) (Malmi & Brown, 2008) in the analysis of reflectiveness on the organization level. Finally, in the conclusion, we present reflective practice as a potential concept and practical tool for enhancing the interactive use of MCS. The interactive use of MCS has been recognized for its potential in boosting learning, creativity, and innovations in certain contexts (Davila, Foster, & Oyon, 2009), but so far the definitions for interactive use remain descriptive and varied among management accounting theorists.

The approach in this study is predominantly conceptual, with empirical and exploratory findings derived from measuring the level of reflectiveness in three organizations. The study enhances the understanding of management control based on the theoretical notion of multilevel reflection on a practice-based level. Empirically, reflective practices are often studied as a learning phenomenon on the individual and collective levels. However, such an approach generally does not incorporate managerial pragmatism regarding the causes of institutionalized learning or the means of managerial control for enabling reflection and, in consequence, innovations.

The purpose of this study is to gain a broad understanding of public perceptions of the police and violence.

This study uses survey data collected from a nationally representative sample (N = 1,223) by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. Descriptive, bivariate correlational and multivariate regression analyses of the data were conducted.

Descriptive analyses show the populace is equally concerned about the police use of violence and violence against the police, but bivariate analyses indicate the two types of concern are unrelated, and multivariate regression analyses show that few variables impact both types of concern. Consistent with prior research, young people and racial/ethnic minorities reported greater concerns about police violence than did older adults and Whites, yet neither age nor race/ethnicity impacted concerns about violence against the police. Perceived mistreatment by the police was the only variable which impacted perceptions of police violence and violence against the police in a consistent and cogent manner.

This study is the first to examine public perceptions of the police as both the agents and victims of violence. The results indicate public perceptions of the police are more complex than was previously believed.

Inequities among people all around the world as well as indifference towards the environment continue to be a constant reality despite the efforts of some organizations worldwide for a better future. We consider that these efforts need to be amplified by many other organizations, therefore, the role of managers as practitioners who conduct organizations' actions need to be explored in the sense of their contribution for improving our reality. Hence, for a better future, a sustainable world that could be more fair, honest and concerned towards nature. To us, this calls into question the role of management education to this regard. Our research studies indicate that one way to contribute to this aim is by means of introducing in contents and pedagogical practices of our courses, the appropriateness of human values in students, as they are the future managers. In this chapter, we present some of these human values, sometimes considered by many religious traditions as spiritual values, which are: wholeness, forethought, solidarity and compassion. We conceptualize these values, and throughout critical reflections, we show how they are taken into account, or simply disregarded, in various courses and domains of Business Schools. At the end, we present some suggestions for pedagogical practices.

This paper aims to explore management control in the strategic development of business model and managerial innovations. The issue is approached from the perspective of managerial work, aiming to outline what managers consider as essential elements of management control in these often iterative and learning-intensive developmental activities.

The study is based on the views of 20 managers engaged in strategic development and its control in various organisations. The interview data consist of the respondents’ experiences and project cases involving non-technological innovations. Qualitative content analysis is used to identify three key concepts of management control of business model and managerial innovations.

The findings suggest that with managerial and business model innovation, appropriate management control could be established by aligning the innovation being developed with the strategic story of the organisation, leveraging co-creational projects and experimentation with close customer contact.

The focus of this qualitative research is on building an initial framework. Future research could expand understanding of managerial work and accounting by examining this study’s outcomes in more practical detail in various contexts.

The findings of this study lead managers and researchers to consider management control of non-technological innovations as an enabling system supporting successful innovations.

This study adds a unique perspective to the literature by conceptualising and offering managerial implications for management control in the context of strategic development of non-technological innovations.

This paper aims to analyze the relationship between the use of management control systems (MCSs) and innovativeness in start-ups pursuing product innovation (PI), business model innovation (BMI) or ambidextrous innovation (both PI and BMI ).

This paper reports on survey data collected at 143 European start-ups using a structured questionnaire sent to a member of the top management team at each firm.

The authors find that the control levers and their interdependencies associated with increased innovativeness significantly differ between the different forms of innovation.

The study provides important guidance for entrepreneurs so that they can effectively support their innovation agenda with the MCSs tailored to their needs.

This research contributes to a growing literature that shows the positive role of MCSs in innovative and entrepreneurial processes. It adds to the understanding of the multifaceted nature of innovation and the crucial importance of BMI and ambidextrous innovation for the success of start-ups.

Interest has grown in how management controls operate together as a package of interrelated mechanisms. This study aims to contribute to the topic by focusing on a single industry in one country, addressing controls in medium-sized enterprises (MEs). It explores how accounting and other forms of control commonly combine and the associations these combinations have with firm characteristics and context.

This study used a cross-sectional sample of 242 firms. Data were collected in 2015 from a survey of the Italian mechanical-engineering industry.

The MEs studied used two different control configurations. One group relatively strongly emphasized most studied controls, except for centralizing decision-making and strong hierarchy; the other relied on centralization and emphasized other controls less. Size, task programmability, outcome measurability, complexity in terms of the extensiveness of the product range and environmental unpredictability can predict the configuration in use.

No broad-based empirical evidence on control configurations in MEs currently exists. Previous research has focused on to what extent control systems affect business effectiveness or efficiency, without assessing how, and in which contexts, they combine.

This study aims to consider how emerging management control systems (MCS) form the MCS package of start‐up firms. Based on institutional theory, the authors aim to better understand reasons for introducing MCS and the reciprocity between the parts of the firm's overall MCS package.

The authors apply a qualitative cross‐sectional field study approach involving 74 interviews with key stakeholders in 20 young start‐up firms with venture capital financing. Interview data are fully transcribed, analysed, checked, and triangulated.

The results uncover the main constituents of start‐up firms in three different institutional fields (nascent, start‐up, post start‐up), which substantially impact on the introduction of new MCS and the subsequent MCS packages. The introduction of formal MCS seems to be divided into different phases.

This study is subject to the limitations of case‐based research. Moreover, the theoretical underpinning of institutional theory potentially underestimates the influence of agency on social behaviour and structures.

The study highlights the major drivers of establishing a set of control systems through which the interests of different stakeholders are aligned. A multitude of concrete examples of managing controls are given, including reasons for their introduction and their effects.

This paper sheds light on the introduction of MCS in young firms. This complements prior research, which has almost exclusively focused on MCS in more mature and established firms. Moreover, the authors deepen prior insights that are primarily focused on isolated formal components of MCS, by understanding MCS as a package.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to present a state of the art of performance measurement and management control systems based on the papers presented in the 6th Conference on Performance Measurement and Management Control in Nice, France, 2011. The chapter is structured around two main topics: performance measurement and control systems.

Methodology/approach – The chapter is based on a thorough review of all the papers presented at the conference. Each paper was classified according to the topic it dealt with and the methodology used in the paper.

Findings – We structure the papers around the following topics: cost measurement and management, mapping the landscape, financial measures, nonfinancial performance frameworks, performance measurement design, sector-specific measures, and marketing measures within performance measurement. The topics identified in management control systems are compensation, management control systems' design, motivational aspects, strategy, risk management and enterprise software, governance, nonprofit organizations, and innovation.

Research limitations/implications – The chapter provides a comprehensive review of these topics. The review is limited to the selection bias implicit in the papers submitted to the conference. However, with almost 200 papers, the conference includes a large set of papers and topics. The analysis indicates that the field is dynamic with close connections to practice and promising research lines.

Practical implications (if applicable) – This state-of-the-art review reveals relevant research findings for companies and organizations. It also indicates that the research community is tackling important issues to society and the evolution of research promises to offer interesting alternatives to tackle these problems.

Social implications – Performance measurement and management control systems are important topics for management. Recent work is extending the implications of these fields beyond companies to include nonprofit organizations and public sector departments. Advances will definitely shape the way societies are designed.

Originality/value of chapter – The chapter provides a review of the field based on the contributions at the conference. As such it portrays the state of the field and gives researchers as well as practitioners a quick way to update their knowledge of the topics that are dominating the field.

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) carry huge economic importance worldwide. At the same time, SMEs face specific challenges, some of which may be alleviated by employing accountants. However, research on the role and impact of accountants in SMEs has long remained fragmented and scarce. This paper aims to encourage more research on accountants in SMEs by providing the first comprehensive and systematic review of relevant research.

Based on systematic review methods, the authors critically examine 68 research articles dealing with accountants in SMEs.

The review identifies three dominant roles for accountants in SMEs: providers of reporting services, sources of SME owners’ self-validation and translators between capital providers and SMEs and advisors. Implicitly, many studies assume a value-enhancing effect of employing accountants in SMEs regardless of these specific roles. At the same time, available studies seldom make use of existing theoretical frameworks to more closely analyze the value-enhancing potential of human resources such as accountants. The authors, thus, propose the resource-based view as a robust theoretical framework to improve theory building in research on accountants in SMEs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first systematic review of accountants in SMEs. In addition, the authors develop a resource-based model on accountants in SMEs to guide future research on this topic.