International Comparison on Management Control and Accounting Systems in Multinational Organizations

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Main objectives of the research are to complete the analysis of management control systems (MCS) in Japanese multinational organisations (MNOs) in order to assess the differences between Japanese and non-Japanese control practices. We plan to extend the research especially on the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs) in Japanese multinationals to asses how control is exerted over foreign subsidiaries. To realize our project, we, Paolo Quattrone, associate professor in Madrid Carlos III University and I, interviewed executive officers in four leading Japanese MNOs; Omron, Toyota, Matsushita and Brother. The findings we got through our research are as follows: (1) globalization of business and adoption of new MCS are the main factors that decentralize business activities across the world, (2) they are using non-financial information systems as a tool to make their brand more powerful, and (3) their development in size and increasing overseas manufacturing subsidiaries are bringing along change in MCS. We can conclude that since 1990's Japanese MNOs have been adopting and developing de-central MNOs by putting their heart into market-oriented management based on economic rationality and their own implicit knowledge on business. But for these factors, any MCS could not have any results expected from it.