The use of organizational controls and their effects on data manipulation and management myopia: A Japan vs U.S. comparison

Two prior papers by Merchant (1985b, 1990) have explored the use and effects of five management controls at the profit center level of a large U.S. firm. This study extends the investigation to a crosscultural context. Data were collected from first-line profit center managers at Toshiba — a Japanes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Accounting, organizations and society Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 175 - 192
Main Authors: Chow, Chee W., Kato, Yutaka, Merchant, Kenneth A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.02.1996
Elsevier
Pergamon Press
Pergamon Press Inc
Series:Accounting, Organizations and Society
Subjects:
Case studies
Classification
Comparative analysis
Corporate culture
Cross cultural studies
Cultural factors
Data
Data analysis
Data collection
Internal controls
Japan
Management techniques
Managers
Manipulation
Organizational behavior
Organizational behaviour
Predictions
Profit
Profit centers
Size of enterprise
Sociocultural factors
Span of control
Statistical analysis
U.S.A
United States > US
Japan
ISSN:0361-3682, 1873-6289
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Two prior papers by Merchant (1985b, 1990) have explored the use and effects of five management controls at the profit center level of a large U.S. firm. This study extends the investigation to a crosscultural context. Data were collected from first-line profit center managers at Toshiba — a Japanese manufacturer matched in size and industry to Merchant's (anonymous) U.S. firm. These data were combined with those of Merchant to test four predictions derived from Hofstede's (1980) taxonomy of national culture. The findings supported the predictions that relative to their U.S. counterparts, the Japanese profit center managers were subject to tighter procedural controls and controls via directives given at meetings. Further, when faced with the same level of control tightness, they did not engage in as high a level of dysfunctional activities. However, contrary to prediction, the Japanese managers were subject to significantly tighter controls overall than were the U.S. managers.
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ISSN:0361-3682
1873-6289
DOI:10.1016/0361-3682(95)00030-5