In search of best practice for budgetary control in organisations, this
book explores the relationships between budget behaviour and the state
of corporate management style, culture and policies. The theoretical and
empirical evidence presented in the book suggests that: (a) budgeting,
contrary to its articulated roles in the literature, may be unsuitable
as a strategy for influencing goal commitment and performance, (b) there
are specific organisational behaviours which must be developed and
embedded in an establishment in support of budgetary control, (c) those
specific behaviours are moderated by management style, corporate culture
and policies. The book supports the argument that there is a distinction
between the functions of (a) setting standards and providing the
mechanism for operational planning and control, which budgeting fulfils
satisfactorily, and (b) the responsibility for developing and sustaining
budgetary goal accomplishment behaviours. The latter depends on specific
strategies outside the capability of budgeting.