Work Health and Management Control

As in the rest of the world, health is a growing concern in European countries. It is in this context that some researchers have begun to consider whether it might be possible to develop management control and accounting models that address work health problems. Management control and accounting has traditionally focused on more tangible determinants of employee efficiency. The principal motivation for this book is to investigate whether it is possible to further extend the boundaries of accounting in the field of intangibles to incorporate health issues. The objective of such an exercise is to modify existing management control systems and processes so as to encourage attention, discussions, decision-making, and action with respect to sustainable health promotion. The subject area is not taught anywhere, neither in academia nor in practice. In order to successfully develop the present new approaches, we believe that there is a strong need to promote multi-disciplinary enquiry involving researchers from not only management control and accounting but also the human resource management, public health, and occupational safety and health disciplines. The contributors to this text are, therefore, drawn from a number of different academic disciplines as well as from seven European countries i.e., Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.