International Workshop at Cass Business School, City University London Management Control for Sustainability: Exploring the Roles of Tools, Practices and Packages November, 27th, 2014 Overview of the workshop Whilst embedding sustainability within organizations appears as a crucial objective to academics and practitioners alike (Bertels, Papina & Papina, 2010; Moon et al., 2011), the way forward remains highly debated. Interest in such matters has grown amongst management control scholars, who have increasingly considered how control systems could and should contribute to the integration of sustainability within strategy and organizational behaviours (Bebbington & Thomson, 2013). This is reflected in the special issues recently published by prominent journals in the accounting field (see Accounting, Organization and Society, 2014; Management Accounting Research, 2013). Findings that suggest management control systems (MCS) can effectively drive change (Arjaliès & Mundy, 2013; Hopwood, 2009) are counterbalanced by evidence that they can also serve to reinforce the profit-seeking paradigm (Contrafatto & Burns, 2013) and may not necessarily prevent the decoupling of sustainability goals from financial goals (Durden, 2008; Gond et al., 2012). Accordingly, the domain of sustainability appears as a useful space to further explore the dynamics whereby MCS can enhance (or not) the consistency between organizations’ strategy, activities and organizational members’ behaviours (Otley, 1999). Recent research on MCS also suggests moving beyond analyses of MCS considered in isolation, to focus on their dynamic relationships with actors’ practices (Adams & McNicholas, 2007; Arjaliès & Mundy, 2013) and their interactions with other systems through consideration of the ‘MCS package’ (Grabner & Moers, 2013). This workshop brings together scholars from the field to aim at furthering discussions on the roles of MCS in relation to sustainability by focusing on their influence on actors’ practice and/or by considering the role they play as a package within organizational contexts. The intention being that the workshop will provide an open and pleasant forum for lively debate. References Adams, C. A., & McNicholas, P. (2007). Making a difference: Sustainability reporting, accountability and organisational change. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 20(3), 382–402. Arjaliès, D.-L., & Mundy, J. (2013). The use of management control systems to manage CSR strategy: A levers of control perspective. Management Accounting Research, 24(4), 284–300. Bebbington, J., & Thomson, I. (2013). Sustainable development, management and accounting: Boundary crossing. Management Accounting Research, 24(4), 277–283. Bertels, S., Papania, L., & Papania, D. (2010). Embedding Sustainability in Organizational Culture: A Systematic Review of the Body of Knowledge. London, ON: Network for Business Sustainability. Contrafatto, M., & Burns, J. (2013). Social and environmental accounting, organisational change and management accounting: A processual view. Management Accounting Research, 24(4), 349–365. Durden, C. (2008). Towards a socially responsible management control system. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 21(5), 671–694. Gond, J.-P., Grubnic, S., Herzig, C., & Moon, J. (2012). Configuring management control systems: Theorizing the integration of strategy and sustainability. Management Accounting Research, 23(3), 205–223. Grabner, I., & Moers, F. (2013). Management control as a system or a package? Conceptual and empirical issues. Accounting, Organization and Society, 27(7), 687–708. Hopwood, A.G. (2009). Accounting and the environment. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34(3-4), 433–439. Moon, J. Gond, J.-P., Grubnic, S., & Herzig, C., (2011). Management control for sustainability strategy. Research Executive Summary Series, 7(12), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London, UK. Available online: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/Sustainability%20and%20Cl imate%20Change/Management%20control_sustainability-strategy.pdf Otley, D. (1999). Performance management: a framework for management control systems research. Management Accounting Research, 10(4), 363–382. Team of Organizers Wafa Ben-Khaled – University Paris Dauphine, France, Visiting at Cass Business School, UK Jean-Pascal Gond – Cass Business School, City University London, UK Suzana Grubnic – Loughborough University, UK Christian Herzig – University of Kassel, GER, Nottingham Business School, UK Marion Ligonie – ESSEC Business School, France, Visiting at Cass Business School, UK We gratefully acknowledge the support of Cass Business School, Loughborough University, Nottingham Business School and University of Kassel for the sponsorship of this workshop. International Workshop at Cass Business School, City University London Management Control for Sustainability: Exploring the Roles of Tools, Practices and Packages Thursday 27th November 2014 Provisional program – 05/11/14 9:30 – 10:15 – Registration and coffee 10:15 – 10:30 – Introduction and welcoming 10:30 – 12:00 – Session 1 Governing the gap between CSR reporting and implementation Laura SPENCE – Royal Holloway, United Kingdom Valentin STEEN – Copenhagen Business School, Denmark From controversy to accountability: how control systems facilitate the deployment of corporate social responsibility in a gambling company. Marion LIGONIE – ESSEC Business School, France, Visiting at Cass Business School 12:00 – 1:00 – Lunch 1:00 – 2:30 – Session 2 From share value to shared value: Exploring the role of integrated reporting in accounting practices Diane Laure ARJALIÈS – HEC Paris, France Delphine GIBASSIER – Toulouse Business School, France Michelle RODRIGUE – Université de Laval, Canada (QC) Unpacking management control systems to balance profit-sustainability tensions: The roles of integration, distribution and coordination Jean-Pascal GOND – Cass Business School, City University London, United Kingdom Suzana GRUBNIC – Loughborough University, United Kingdom Christian HERZIG – University of Kassel, Germany, & Nottingham Business School, UK Jeremy MOON – Copenhagen Business School, Denmark 02:30 – 03:00 – Coffee break 3:30 – 4:00 – Roundtables Two roundtables aim at offering doctoral students in early stages of their dissertation or researchers with a project of papers an opportunity to present their ideas and collect informally feedbacks from the community of researchers attending the workshops. 4:30 – 5:00 – Expert panel: Perspectives for accounting and control research in sustainability Stephen JOLLANDS – University of Exeter, United Kingdom Julia MUNDY – University of Greenwich, United Kingdom Rita SAMIOLO – London School of Economics, United Kingdom Expert members on sustainability from the Chartered institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) (to be confirmed) 5:00 – Cocktail Team of organizers: Please feel to contact any of us for further information. Wafa BEN KHALED – Paris Dauphine University, France, Visiting at Cass Business School [email protected] Jean-Pascal GOND – Cass Business School, City University London, United Kingdom [email protected] Suzana GRUBNIC – Loughborough University, United Kingdom [email protected] Christian HERZIG – University of Kassel, Germany, Nottingham Business School, United Kingdom [email protected] Marion LIGONIE – ESSEC Business School, France, Visiting at Cass Business School [email protected] Practical information: Venue: Cass Business School, City University of London Aldersgate site: 200 Aldersgate Street London EC1A 4HD Room N216a (Second floor) Closest underground stations: Northern Line – Moorgate or Old Street Hammersmith and city Line – Barbican, Liverpool Street or Moorgate Central Line – Liverpool Street Participation to the workshop is free of charge. We welcome other participants who are interested in the topic. If you wish to attend, please inform the conveners as soon as possible. .