Article,
Intra-organisational influences in procurement networks controls: The impacts of information technology
Management Accounting Research, 17 (2): 141-170 (2006/6)
Abstract
This study is motivated out of a two-fold concern for how intra-organisational
influences generally, and information technology specifically, impact
upon control mechanisms in procurement networks. Utilising actor-network
theory, the study examines two relational dimensions of procurement
networks within actor-network space: inter-organisational relations
between buyers and suppliers that comprise the procurement network
and intra-organisational relations among actors within buyer organisations
in particular. In doing so, the study addresses the inadequate consideration
of intra-organisational influences in the literature examining the
management control of networks. In addition, the study highlights
the fluidity of inter-organisational control mixes, contrasting with
prevailing notions of 'fit' between control mechanisms and a given
transactional setting. Information technology is specifically focused
upon because it increasingly mediates inter-organisational collaboration,
yet its consequences are unclear and the extant literature in the
area is formative. Thus, the study also contributes to extant understandings
of the control effects of information technology within procurement
networks.
