The Impact of Digitalisation on Management Control

• Janusz Kowalski

  Author

 Digitalisation is fundamentally reshaping the function, instruments, and organisation of management control across firms of all sizes and industries. Drawing on the recent systematic literature, this paper synthesises empirical and conceptual findings on how digital technologies—including enterprise resource planning systems, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, cloud computing, and digital twins—transform MC tasks, instruments, organisation, and behavioural dynamics. The analysis reveals that digitalisation significantly extends the strategic and operational scope of MC, automates routine control activities, enables real-time and data-driven decision-making, and repositions the management accountant as a strategic business partner. At the same time, organisations face substantial challenges, including cybersecurity risks, cultural resistance, skill gaps, and the high cost of digital infrastructure. The paper concludes that successful digital transformation of management control requires alignment between technology, human competencies, organisational culture, and adaptive control design, and identifies avenues for future research on emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, and digital twins.

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