Management control in internationalized Brazilian companies: analysis of six case studies

Abstract

The first objective of this study, specifically related to accounting science, is to determine whether the internationalization of a company’s operations has an impact on its management control systems. Literature review on the subject revealed that (i) authors approach it in a basically similarly way, but also (ii) showed some differences, specially to what concerns the cultural characteristics of the countries involved. We report and analyze six case studies of Brazilian companies with international activities. Investigation was guided by the premise that, as the geographical scope of a company’s operations enlarges, its administrative complexity also grows, demanding the adoption of new and more sophisticated controls systems. Evidences collected in cases indicate that, in certain situations or instances, the expected goal of management control systems in the new context, as well as its sophistication, may not be achieved. Our second objective is to call attention to the Taketani and Osada epistemology, which provides an important support to the kind of work we did. The epistemology states that to collect, to analyze, and to compare different descriptions of a phenomenon is a necessary step in the construction and evolution of knowledge in a certain area, and considerably accelerates the process. This makes us confident that our approach represents a promising advance towards a steady and consistent growth of knowledge in the field of accounting science.