Internal Control Systems and Performance of Emerging Market Firms: The Moderating Roles of Leadership Consistency and Quality

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the potential interaction between leadership and the internal control structure and determine whether this interaction can benefit emerging market businesses by increasing the effectiveness of their internal controls. Drawing upon the cognitive consistency and expectancy theories, this study develops and tests a mediated moderation model to examine how leadership consistency and quality can be integrated to regulate the effectiveness of internal control systems toward enhancing firm performance. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results from survey data from 206 Vietnamese firms indicated the following: (a) internal control effectiveness mediates the effect of the internal control structure on firm performance; (b) leadership consistency positively moderates the impact of the internal control structure on internal control effectiveness; and (c) the moderating effect of leadership consistency is strengthened with a higher level of leadership quality. These findings lead to several theoretical and practical implications.