Management Control Practices and Professional-KIBS in Private Equity Field

Abstract

This paper analyses a case study through a managerialist approach in order to investigate how private equity (PE) employs management control (MC) practices to support the knowledge transfer between professional-knowledge intensive business services (P-KIBS) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, the paper highlights how SMEs face difficulties or barriers when adopting shareholder-oriented MC practices. Findings describe how PE works in a SME to reduce fails in shareholder-oriented MC practices due to limited resources and shortage of managerial expertise and how such practices are used by SME’s top management or entrepreneurs to better estimate the effects of a partnership with P-KIBSs and monitor their development.