When companies grow up - A case study of a family-owned company’s management control system

Problem: What are the characteristics of Polykemi’s management control system and how is it affected by growth? Purpose: To describe and analyse the management control system of a medium-sized family-owned company from the perspective of Simons’ Levers of control. Research design: An abductive, interview-based case study of Polykemi AB. Conclusion: Polykemi’s management control system is primarily a traditional one which is rather strong in terms of Levers of control. It is changing to become more modern and several important developments are under way, particularly within the frame of the change program “Going for Gold”. As an effect of growth, formalisation is probably required, since tacit and informal systems do not scale as well as formalised systems do