Knowledge, innovation, and control towards accountability: a comparative case study

ABSTRACT

This paper deepens the countervailing relationship between control and innovation in highly innovative networks. It adopts a middle range theory perspective [Broadbent and Laughlin, 2013. Accounting Control and Controlling Accounting: Interdisciplinary and Critical Perspectives. 1st ed. Bingley: Emerald Group] integrated with the quintuple helix model (Carayannis and Campbell, 2010. “Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix and Quintuple Helix and How Do Knowledge, Innovation and the Environment Relate To Each Other?.” International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development 1 (1): 41–69] to explore how control and innovation interact and shape each other in the contexts of high complexity and intensive knowledge creation, towards the satisfaction of accountability demands by stakeholders. The research relies upon two case studies and reveals what are the factors positively shaping the interaction between innovation and control towards greater accountability. We document that successful changes are facilitated by the implementation of adequate and innovative informal control devices favouring collaborative relationships, reinforcing innovation and shared knowledge and capabilities within the organisation. The findings are relevant to all complex settings involved in multifaceted processes of producing knowledge and innovation.

KEYWORDS:

• Innovation
• performance management systems
• innovative networks
• comparative case study

Acknowledgements

Special thanks go to Professor Jane Broadbent and Professor Richard Laughlin for their foresight and support, as well as for our challenging debates. Their expertise added considerably to our writing experience and we would like to owe them our gratitude.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Rosanna Spanò is Assistant Professor of Accounting and her research interests cover the areas of accounting change and management accounting in complex settings.

Alessandra Allini is Associate Professor of Accounting and her research interests cover the areas of accounting, risk disclosure, risk management, and management accounting.

Marco Maffei is Associate Professor of Accounting and his research interests cover the areas of accounting, risk disclosure, risk management, and management accounting.

Annamaria Zampella is Post-Doctoral fellow in Accounting and her research interests cover the areas of accounting, risk disclosure, and risk management.

Notes

1 Innovation is understood as an on-going attempt to achieve new and unique knowledge and ideas to support new business processes and outcomes, and is referred to as an incremental process of knowledge creation (Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005; Du Plessis 2007).