Managerial artifacts and their evolutionary stages

This study aimed to highlight the managerial artifacts portrayed in the literature as commonly used in management control processes, classifying them as traditional, modern, and innovative. The literature review began with the definition of a search string, which was applied across seven databases indexed in the Capes Periodicals portal. The search process yielded a total of 390 articles, which were filtered and selected through the State of the Art Through Systematic Review (StArt) tool, resulting in 33 articles. Following the analysis of the studies, it was inferred that 42.47% of the artifacts were classified as traditional and 57.52% as modern. Budgeting practices, followed by strategic planning practices, were the most extensively explored in the literature, appearing in 57.57% and 51.51% of the studies, respectively. Methods of cost determination such as Backflush Costing, Life-Cycle Costing, and Target Costing were considered innovative, along with the use of Break-Even Analysis as a performance measure, and Reward Systems and Quality Management as management philosophies. Additionally, a set of artifacts was identified for the integrated informational management of performance, encompassing cost management (27.27%), accounting management (12.12%), financial management (42.42%), and data and information management (33.33%). Overall, the research suggests elements for the proposition of a fifth evolutionary stage of management accounting, focusing on integrated informational performance management through the use of performance indicators.