How Initial Public Offerings Change Management Control System Packages

Abstract: This study aims to further develop research, from a management approach, by studying how MCS packages change when an organization undergoes an initial public offering. Furthermore, it aims to use Malmi and Brown’s (2008) management control system package in order to categorize and analyze the complexity of organizational change brought on by an initial public offering. This study draws on interviews with top managers in a high technological firm, which has recently been listed on the stock exchange. The results of this study imply that an initial public offering can change the MCS package in a number of different ways. Public companies do not necessarily become short-term, an initial public offering can affect a company’s external focus and measurements without affecting its internal measurements, in order for companies to become suitable for the stock market they formalize policies and appoint an independent board and listed companies can experience changes to their culture.