The impact of integrated information and decision-making systems on management control: an exploratory qualitative study

Abstract

Integrated information systems have become an indispensable component in the structure of the company in general and the management control process in particular for performance management. They involve the ability of management control to structure the performance system and to implement it in these new tools. Combined with business intelligence and decision support systems, they can improve strategic decision-making and performance by redefining management control practices by abolishing the constraints of collecting and storing information. Our objective in this research is to understand the impact of these systems of management control, both the contributions of these information systems to the production of useful information for performance management and their effects on the role and conduct of management control. Our research approach is a qualitative, exploratory study of a large Moroccan company, the world's leading phosphate producer, which has developed integrated, decision-making information systems. Our main results allow us to highlight the consequences of the different components of the information system in terms of enrichment of the information potential and to draw conclusions on the organizational effects on the management control function as well as on the role of the management controller.

JEL Classification : L25, M15, O10, O33

Paper type:   empirical research