A Systematic Literature Review of Contingency Theory in Management Accounting and Control Systems (2010–2024)

Abstract

Contingency theory is one of the conceptual frameworks that is widely used in management
accounting research and management control systems. This theory assumes that the
effectiveness of accounting and control systems cannot be universally determined, but rather
is influenced by the compatibility between organizational characteristics and the contextual
factors that surround them. Although this theory has been a major reference in various
empirical studies, there has not been a systematic review that comprehensively maps how
contingency theory is applied, developed, and integrated with other theories in the context of
modern management accounting.
This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) of studies that apply
contingency theory in the field of management accounting and management control systems
during the period 2010 to 2024. This study uses an approach that refers to the guidelines of
Kitchenham and Charters (2007), with the stages of planning, implementation, and reporting
which include automatic and manual literature search, application of inclusion-exclusion
criteria, quality assessment, and data extraction process.
The results of the review show that most studies combine contingency theory with other
theories such as Institutional Theory, Resource-Based View, and Agency Theory to strengthen
the conceptual foundation. The most frequently studied contextual variables include
environmental uncertainty, organizational strategy, company size, and technology support. In
addition, the quantitative approach with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) or Partial Least
Squares (PLS) survey and analysis methods dominated the studies studied.
Theoretically, this study contributes by presenting a comprehensive picture of the development
and direction of research based on contingency theory. The results of this study are expected
to be the basis for the development of a conceptual model that is more adaptive to
organizational dynamics and an increasingly complex business environment.
Keywords: contingency theory, management accounting system, management control system,
systematic literature review, management accounting.