How initiatives towards transforming the Role of Controllers play out – A field study examining the changing role of controllers at Volvo Cars
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Background and Purpose: As the digital transformation alters organizations the controlling\nprofession changes and boundaries are blurring. Controllers are moving away from a beancounter\nimage and are evolving into business partners with an organizational value-adding focus. The\nlongevity of development of the role of controllers has its roots in institutional theory where\ncontrolling is argued to be an institutionalized profession. Thus, change might not come easily\nwhich implies that there is a great need for change initiatives to break the embedded rules and\nroutines. By drawing on the notion institutional entrepreneurship, we aspire to enrich the area of\nhow initiatives are played out to transform the role of controllers. This will be done through\nperforming a field study at a large industrial organization that has close ties to the digital\ntransformation.\nMethodology: The initial stage of the research began with an extensive literature\nreview. Afterward, a pre-study was conducted to grasp on the most important aspects. The prestudy\nconsisted of two unstructured interviews and we were provided with material from our\nsupervisor at the case company. The literature review and pre-study laid the foundation for the ten\nsubsequent semi-structured interviews.\nFindings and Analysis: Our study shows that there have been a handful of change initiatives in\nplace to transform the role of controllers. The initiatives are categorized based on the approach\ntaken; Blunt intervention or Competence preparation. The former includes Controlling 3.0, an\ninitiative that has disrupted the way of working in a blunt manner and fosters efficiency. In addition,\nPerformance Steering and Ownership changes have also, to some extent, transformed the role of\ncontrollers. The latter, i.e. Competence preparation, constitutes initiatives that take time since they\nare primarily concerned with developing individuals and their capabilities. These initiatives are for\nexample Educational programs, which have slightly improved the technical competences of\ncontrollers. Additionally, Soft Initiatives is another dimension of Competence preparation that\nconcerns employing people with other types of work background.\nConclusion: The study brings forth the idea that transforming the role of controllers is a\nmultidimensional work with a mix of radical changes and continuous competence support.\nInitiatives with characteristics spreading across the two approaches are vital and there needs to be\nsome sort of synchronization and interplay between the initiatives as well as between the internal\nand external environment. Additionally, there is a great need for having institutional entrepreneurs\nthat champion new ideas which lead to materialization of new rules and routines. Some of the\nchange initiatives are defined as Controlling 3.0, Performance Steering, Educational Programs and\nSoft Initiatives. Finally, the study highlights the influential role that management has, where their\ndemands could be a starting point for new changes to emerge.
Authors: Victoria Andersson, Karin Enström
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3082003048