The Interrelations of Intrafirm Management Control and Inter-organizational Relationships - A study of sponsorship activities within elite sports clubs

Sammanfattning: This paper adds to the emerging stream of literature on the interrelations between intra- and interfirm management control by looking into how various forms of collaborations influence, and are in turn influenced, by internal management control systems (MCS). We draw theoretically on Merchant & Van der Stede's (2003) result, action, personnel and cultural controls, which are used as a package to analyze mutual influences between the firm and its various collaborations. The chosen empirical method is a multiple case study design in the context of Swedish elite hockey clubs and their various forms of sponsorship collaborations. Theory within sponsorship is found helpful in identifying how commercialization of sports influences the motivations of the club and its sponsorship partners, which allows for a classification of collaborations in terms of low and high strategic integration. It is found that the closer the collaboration, the higher the impact is on a firm's internal MCS. It is also shown how adding intrafirm competencies by adjusting internal management control systems leads to closer and more intense collaborations.