IT-Enabled Management Control Systems Transformations: Lessons Learned from SaveCom

Tzu-Chuan Chou, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Pu-Dong Weng, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Tsung-Cheng Wu, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology

Abstract

Information technology (IT)-enabled organizational transformations are emphasized in a great deal of research. However, IT-enabled management control systems (MCS) transformations to facility management for steering an organization toward its strategic objectives have become relevant and important, yet underexplored. To address this gap, the present study illustrates how a business intelligence (BI) system enables the transformations of organizational MCS. Through an in-depth case study of a Taiwanese telecommunications company, the IT features, and their direct effects and induced effects to MCS are analyzed in terms of an organization’s belief systems, boundary systems, diagnostic control systems, and interactive control systems. The implications for the organizational MCS design of these effects are discussed.