Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: the technical, moral and facilitating role of management control

Passetti, Emilio; Battaglia, Massimo; Bianchi, Lara; Annesi, Nora

Abstract

Purpose: The study analyses how management control supports the organisation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Design/methodology/approach: Video interviews with top and middle-level managers who were directly involved in handling the response to the COVID-19 crisis in late winter and spring 2020 form the empirical base. The object-of-control framework and the distinction between organic and mechanistic management controls inform the exploratory case analysis of a large food retail cooperative in Italy. Findings: Both organic and mechanistic management control mechanisms enabled an immediate response and management of the crisis. The use of cultural, action and results controls supported employees' health and safety coordination, a tight monitoring of financial performance and social interventions in support of the local community. Originality/value: The study provides original exploratory insights on the use and role of management control in the context of an unprecedented emergency and an unplanned setting (i.e. a pandemic crisis), which is an under-investigated topic in the accounting literature. The study shows how management control operated, linking moral and technical aspects as well as facilitating organisational adaptation and pandemic effects mitigation.

Citation

Passetti, E., Battaglia, M., Bianchi, L., & Annesi, N. (2021). Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: the technical, moral and facilitating role of management control. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 34(6), 1430-1444. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4839

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 14, 2021
• Online Publication Date: May 20, 2021
• Publication Date: Jul 23, 2021
• Deposit Date: Apr 19, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: May 20, 2021
• Journal: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal
• Print ISSN: 0951-3574
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1430-1444
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4839
• Keywords: management control system; accounting; COVID-19; crisis; pandemic Accounting; Auditing & Accountability Journal
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5483074
• Publisher URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4839/full/html