Exploring Enterprise Systems and Management Control in the Information Society: Developing a Conceptual Framework

Society is evolving from the industrial society towards the information society where information technology plays a crucial role. Few IT innovations have had as much impact on business organizations in the past years as Enterprise Systems (ES). These systems affect most functions in the organization as they support and standardize business processes, integrate data, can integrate external business partners into business processes and influence management activities such as planning and control. The main objective of this paper is to add to the limited body of knowledge of the relationship between ES and management control. We describe the changes taking place in companies operating in the information society, describe and define management control and review existing research on the relationship between management control and enterprise systems. We criticize existing management control frameworks for not recognizing the significance of information, communication and risk control in today’s operating environment. Finally, we propose a framework for viewing management control in the information society