Adoption of management control systems and performance in public sector organizations

Abstract

Public sector organizations have the responsibility to provide public services, while having to deal with a dynamic and turbulent environment and budget constraints. The pressure to innovate and improve performance has led these organizations to look for more effective management methods and tools. Management Control Systems (MCS) have been used to improve organizations’ performance and previous studies show their relevance in private and non-profit sectors, but there is a gap in the literature concerning the adoption of MCS in the public sector. This work aims to study the adoption and impact of MCS in a sample of public organizations. Based on fsQCA, our study shows how MCS are associated with the accomplishment of organizational objectives. These results contribute to the ongoing academic debate on MCS in the public sector, while being useful for top managers in public sector organizations aiming to improve the performance through the implementation of MCS packages.