Name
Something Old, Something New: Understanding MCS change under digital transformation through I4.0 and I5.0
Date & Time
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Description
This paper develops an integrated explanation of MCS change by linking Industry 4.0 (I4.0) enablers with Industry 5.0 (I5.0) pillars and synthesising evidence through the MCS as a package lens (Malmi and Brown, 2008). Using a systematic literature review approach (Massaro et al., 2016), we searched Scopus and Web of Science for journal articles published between 2000 and 2025 and identified 41 relevant studies after de-duplication and screening. Drawing on the reviewed studies, this paper integrates I4.0 principles, which emphasise interoperability, real-time data management, automation, and system integration, with I5.0 pillars, which foreground sustainability, resilience, and human-centric priorities. Using the MCS as a package framework, the analysis demonstrates that digital transformation reshapes MCS not through wholesale replacement, but through layered reconfiguration across planning, cybernetic, cultural, administrative, and reward and compensation controls. I4.0 enablers primarily alter how control operates by expanding sensing, coordination, and monitoring capacities, while I5.0 pillars reorient the purposes and legitimacy of control by redefining what constitutes valued performance and responsible decision making. By clarifying the distinct yet interdependent roles of I4.0 and I5.0, this review advances a system-level understanding of MCS change under digital transformation. The findings highlight the need to conceptualise MCS as an active mediating mechanism linking technology, strategy, and organisational accountability, offering implications for both management accounting research and practice.
Speakers
Keywords
Management accounting; Management control system; Digital transformation
Theme
MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
Author 1
Chas Jiao
Author 2
Julie Harrison
Author 3
Frederick Ng