The making of control: an ethnomethodology of choosing management accounting systems

This paper sets out to contribute to the literature on the design and the implementation of management control systems. To this end, we question what is discussed when a management control system is to be chosen and on what decision-making eventually rests. This study rests upon an ethnomethodology of the Salvation Army's French branch. Operating in the dual capacity of a researcher and a counsellor to management, between 2000 and 2007, we have unrestricted access to internal data revealing the backstage of management control : discussions and interactions surrounding the choosing of control devices. We contribute to understanding the arising of a need for control, the steps and process followed to decide upon a management control system, and controls in nonprofits.