The Adoption and Usage of Modern Management Control Systems in Chinese State- owned Enterprises: A Field Study

The adoption and Usage of Modern Management Control Systems is a hot topic in Chinese managerial accounting research. The management control system is not only technical issues, but also a piece of art which represents the underlying cultural factors. Thus, Chinese firms need to localize the management control tools to tailor them to the firms ’ specific needs. However, the existing research in Chinese managerial accounting focuses on introduction of theories and cases from US companies, but rarely attempts to do on site research in Chinese firms. This paper examines four big Chinese State-owned Enterprises from different industries, including the biggest metals trading company, the biggest military products manufacturing firm, the second largest oil company, and one very successful diversified Hong Kong company. We try to analyze the adoption of management control systems in Chinese firms and to draw some commonalities among them. Keywords