The role of management accounting in the process of innovation: A field work perspective

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

Recent accounting literature (e.g. Granlund and Taipaleenmäki, 2005; Davila, Foster & Oyon, 2009) suggests that Management Control Systems can influence the process of innovation, especially when they are used interactively. Such work constitutes a rupture with the traditional and diagnostic vision of control where Management Control Systems only act at the process of strategy implementation, limiting their role in accommodating the environment of uncertainty that characterizes innovation (Amabile, 1998; Kanter, 2006). This work project provides contextualized evidence on the use of Management Control Systems and their influence on the innovation process at an information technology company with a research lab.