Effective Management Control deals with a critical but relatively neglected and misunderstood aspect of organizational effectiveness: the process of controlling the behavior of people in organizations. The issue of organizational control and the design of an optimal control system is essential for the long term effectiveness of an organization: too little control can lead to confusion and chaos; conversely, too great a degree of control can result in the erosion of innovation and entrepreneurship. This monograph presents a conceptual framework for approaching these issues, and examines the role accounting can play in a successful control system. The author works towards an understanding of the nature, role, elements and functioning of organizational control and control systems in organizations. The book posits and discusses the features of a core control system and its component parts, including: planning, measurement and feedback, evaluation and reward sub-systems. It also discusses the ways in which a core control system operates within a larger organizational structure and culture. The theory is illustrated through its application to a particular case study.

Updating the book since its last publication in 1985, this new edition of the landmark work on human resource accounting has been substantially revised to reflect the current state of the field through the late 1990s. The economies of many nations are increasingly dominated by knowledge- or information-based sectors driven by highly trained and specialized personnel. Whereas physical capital was of the utmost economic importance in the past, the distinctive feature of the emerging post-industrial economies is an increasing reliance on human and intellectual capital. The growing importance of human capital as a determinant of economic success at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels dictates that firms need to adjust to this new economic reality. Specifically, if human capital is a key determinant for organizational success, then investment in the training and development of employees to improve performance is a critical component of this success. This broad socioeconomic shift underscores a growing need for measuring and analyzing human capital when making managerial and financial decisions. Yet important human resource decisions involving hiring, training, compensation, productivity and other matters are often made in the absence of specific information about the different costs and benefits of these particular choices. Human resource accounting is a managerial tool that can be used to gain this valuable information by measuring the costs of recruiting, hiring, compensating and training employees. It can be used to evaluate employee training programs, increase productivity, and improve managerial decision-making regarding promotions, transfers, layoffs, replacement andturnover. Case studies illustrate, for example: How an insurance company evaluated a training program for claims adjusters and found that it would return two dollars for every one dollar spent. How a human resources accounting study revealed that an electronics firm's losses from employee turnover equalled one year's new income, and how the company initiated a program to reduce turnovers. The third edition presents the current state of the art of human resource accounting by (1) examining the concepts and methods of accounting for people as human resources; (2) explaining the present and potential uses of human resource accounting for human resource managers, line managers and investors; (3) describing the research, experiments and applications of human resource accounting in organizations; (4) considering the steps involved in developing a human resource accounting system; and (5) discussing some of the remaining aspects of human resource accounting that require further research.

Building Family Business Champions provides a theoretically sound and practical framework for understanding the challenges that family businesses face. Drawing on three decades of consulting with more than 250 companies, their own experience running a family-owned firm, and sound research, Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle explain that the success of these companies hinges upon the dual management of family functionality and the company's infrastructure. They present a set of managerial tools for planning, structuring the business, measuring performance, and managing culture. After laying this groundwork, they attend to issues that uniquely pertain to these companies, such as succession and the challenges of familial dysfunction. Finally, the book offers a set of short self-assessments that can be used in any family business. Richly illustrated with stories of companies at various stages of growth from around the globe, this book provides a comprehensive guide for building businesses that thrive from generation to generation.

************ The United States is currently undergoing a fundamental transfonnation from an industrial toaseIVice-based economy. ! This transfonnation, which began around the eOO ofWorld WarII, has led to changes in the composition of the labor force, affecting the various sectors in which people are employed and also the types and levels ofskills that are indemand. At present ours is rapidly becoming a mowledge, or infonnation based economy, requiring "high-teclmology services" from people who are highly. trained and educated as well as experienced in their fields. Engineers, computer programmers, software developers, medical technicians, lawyers, and university professors all qualify as high-tech selVice personnel Thus, the economy is increasingly composed ofwhite collar, teclutical, professionalpersonnel GrowingRecognition oftheImportanceofHuman Assets Whereas physical capital was of utmost importance in the economy of the past, the distinctive feature of the emerging economy is an increasing emphasis on human and intellectual capital-the knowledge, skills, and experience ofpeople. Given the growing importance of human capital and intellectual property as detenninants of economic success at both the macroeconomic and enterprise levels, it should also be clear that the nature ofinvestments made by firms needs to shift to reflect the new economic realities. Specifically, if human caPital is a key detenninant of organizational success, then investmentsintraininganddevelopmentofpeoplealso become critical.

Effective Management Control deals with a critical but relatively neglected and misunderstood aspect of organizational effectiveness: the process of controlling the behavior of people in organizations. The issue of organizational control and the design of an optimal control system is essential for the long term effectiveness of an organization: too little control can lead to confusion and chaos; conversely, too great a degree of control can result in the erosion of innovation and entrepreneurship. This monograph presents a conceptual framework for approaching these issues, and examines the role accounting can play in a successful control system. The author works towards an understanding of the nature, role, elements and functioning of organizational control and control systems in organizations. The book posits and discusses the features of a core control system and its component parts, including: planning, measurement and feedback, evaluation and reward sub-systems. It also discusses the ways in which a core control system operates within a larger organizational structure and culture. The theory is illustrated through its application to a particular case study.

The authors of this book argue that firms succeed or fail in their industries according to the degree that they are able to change what they do to meet changing market decisions. The authors present a framework for managing the process of organizational transformation, and the tools that are necessary to manage that change.