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Prior research has focused on the transactional aspects of the Hawala Networks (i.e. Invisible Funds Transfer Networks). However, little is known about the structure of this networked "organisation" especially about its governance and management control systems. Clanbased Organisations and Actor Network Theories were utilised to provide the theoretical base on which a research farmework was built. In total, 20 indepth interviews were conducted with Hawaldars (Hawala service providers) using a semi-structured questionnaire. As the study focused on the Gulf Cooperation Council region, data were collected from Qatar, UAE and Kuwait. The data indicated that there were no formal governance and management control systems in place for managing Hawala Networks (HNets); there were no explicit formal processes and mechanisms for evaluating performance and there was no formal performance measurement and tracking system in place to provide the information about network functionality. Results also showed that trust acted as the most important control mechanism impacting the efciency, effectiveness and the relatively lower transaction costs associated with HNets operations

This study examines the interrelations between risk and management control systems in inter-firm alliances—specifically, how risks influence the choices and construction of management control systems, and how these management control systems subsequently affect the articulation and evolution of risks. The research issues are examined by using the theoretical perspective of a three-stage experimentation process under the actor-network theory. Data were collected from one international joint venture in the Chinese automobile industry through formal and informal interviews, observations and review of internal and external documents. This study found that risk and inter-firm alliances continuously and mutually construct each other through management control systems. On the one hand, management control systems contribute to the articulation of risks in inter-firm alliances by identifying the source of risk, generating risk perception, rationalising and objectifying risk perception, and producing knowledge on risk. On the other hand, different management control systems are initiated, crafted, selected, formalised and negotiated as the outcome of the partner firm’s efforts to experiment with solutions to address risks. These findings contribute to the accounting and management control literature by demonstrating that risk management of inter-firm alliances is not a static phenomenon. Instead, risk and management control systems in inter-firm alliances are (re)constructed through an ongoing experimentation process that involves interactions among firms in crafting and testing solutions to risks. In this ongoing experimentation process, management control systems are not only used to manage risks, but also contribute to the articulation of new risks. This paper also extends prior research by highlighting how personal ties may play a critical role in the risk management of alliance relationships.

This study investigates whether and how managers' enabling perceptions of their costing systems affect task performance. We propose that managers who perceive their costing system as more enabling will have higher levels of task performance, and that this

This paper comments on Lee Parker's paper on "Qualitative management accounting research: deliverables and relevance" Using it as a starting point, it highlights the need for more informed modes of theorizing as opposed to 'more theories' and the performative effects of theorising. Theories and theorising already matter although what they 'deliver' and influence will be contingent on their instantiation in specific action nets. Further, in order that such social practices might continue to generate desirable consequences, stronger forms of research training should be developed.