The influence of telework and management controls on the congruence of civil servant objectives

The aim of this article was to analyze the effects of the (diagnostic, interactive, and combined) use of performance measurement systems (PMS) on environmental satisfaction and the reflections of that on employees’ green work engagement. Studies on management control systems (MCS) and environmental results have prioritized organizational variables, such as sustainable/environmental development. Efforts directed toward MCS to foster employees’ green behaviors are limited. There is also a call for studies that indicate the interdependence of controls associated with performance, innovation, or other variables in which the environmental context is less contemplated. Employees’ engagement is fundamental for organizations to achieve a higher sustainability level. Hence, the study explores employees’ perceptions about how the organization investigated uses one management control (PMS) to promote the congruence of organizational and individual objectives within the context of environmental sustainability. The literature is concerned about understanding the role of MCS in green behaviors and results. Most of the studies focus on organizational results such as performance, with little evidence for employees’ satisfaction or engagement. Similarly, there is a growing demand to explore MCS interdependence for contexts that go beyond innovation or performance. A single entity survey was conducted in a private Brazilian company from the electric power generation sector, resulting in a sample of 101 employees. For the data analysis, partial least squares structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis were used. The (diagnostic, interactive, and combined) use of PMS positively influences environmental satisfaction and that supports green work engagement. Environmental satisfaction promotes full mediations between the (diagnostic and interactive) use of PMS and green work engagement. Various combinations of conditions lead to high environmental satisfaction and to high green work engagement.

Past research has traditionally argued that management control systems (MCSs) may present a hindrance to the creativity of innovation companies. This theoretical paper surveys the literature to focus an investigation on the MCSs of innovation companies. Within the object of control paradigm the paper develops and presents a theoretical model of the impact of eleven external, organisational and innovation related contingency factors on the MCSs in companies that engage in innovation activities. We also suggest measures for further empirical research. By formulating hypotheses on 43 potential interactions the model predicts contradictory influences on two direct control categories, results and action control, but stresses the importance of two indirect categories, personnel and cultural control. More specifically, the high levels of technological complexity and innovation capability in this type of company are expected to be negatively associated with the application of results and action control, whereas personnel and cultural seem to be more appropriate. Furthermore, important sources of finance, venture capital and public funding, are both hypothesised to be positively associated with the application of results, action and personnel control; whereas only public funding is predicted to be positively related to the application of cultural control. The principal contribution of this paper lies in synthesising the literature to provide a model of the impact of a unique set of eleven contingency factors for innovation companies on a broad scope of controls. In addition, the contingency model, if empirically validated, would add value by inferring the particular forms of management control which would be beneficial in innovative company settings.

B eing asked to make a short speech as part of accepting the award inevitably leads to some introspection and reflection on major factors that have influenced one’s career, be they events or individuals. Past recipients of the award have been very influential in putting management accounting on the map. Some have been instrumental in developing the way we think about management accounting and teach the subject; some have developed important perspectives such as information economics, combining economics with psychology, the importance of national culture, activity-based cost management, and balanced scorecards. The way these recipients developed their thoughts is well told in their acceptance speeches and collectively provides a wealth of ideas and a historical perspective on the development of our discipline. I commenced my studies in economics, and I maintain a keen interest in economic approaches to management accounting. However, early in my academic career, I was pressed into considering an organizational approach to management accounting, not because it was an easier option; rather it addressed the world of management accounting within which I found myself. In this address, I will share with you some personal reflections on the process of my discoveries in the area of organizational approaches to management accounting from the mid-1960s. The backdrop to this address is that research is something of a growth model. Stage 1: starting from a baseline of skills and knowledge gained at undergraduate studies; stage 2: progressing through refinement of skills with more graduate study; and stage 3: consolidating through work toward publications and other academic outputs. Stages 1 and 2 are somewhat planned and incremental, while stage 3 is more often associated with less ordered processes, often stumbling across potential research areas by way of reading and personal interactions. Research projects can be focused around existing ideas, sometimes being somewhat formulaic, sometimes highly innovative. Often ideas can be serendipitous and develop in unpredictable ways. The key is to recognize when there is a management accounting angle that will relate to an important organizational or social issue.

This comprehensive study was driven by the imperative to understand how different management control systems (MCS) – namely Personnel, Culture, Results, and Action Controls – distinctly influence organizational performance, a topic of enduring significance in the business management field. Through detailed path analysis, the research uncovers a significant positive influence of action and cultural controls on performance. In contrast, personnel and results controls do not demonstrate a substantial connection with performance. The investigation reveals that MCS can account for up to 63.7% of the variability in performance, offering critical insights into the efficacy of different control systems in shaping organizational outcomes. This study not only illuminates the theoretical frameworks and practical implementations of MCS but also enriches the understanding of their strategic significance, potentially guiding organizations to leverage control systems effectively to boost performance and fulfil their goals in a structured manner.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between management control (MC) systems (MCS) and strategy processes within the context of the Dutch central government. By examining types of organisational learning, it seeks to explain the role of MC practices in the implementation and/or development of policy strategies by the Dutch ministries. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study was conducted to gain in-depth understanding of the design and use of MCS within ministries of the Dutch central government. Using the analytical framework of Pfister et al. (2023) and Simons’ (1995) levers of control MC framework, three research questions were defined, corresponding to three analytical levels, including the descriptive, analytical and explanatory levels. Findings The results show that MCS were mainly used to control the implementation of organisational strategy. This mainly involved the use of feedback mechanisms to facilitate single-loop learning, which offered limited space for the development of strategies. Originality/value This paper contributes to the MC literature by increasing the conceptual understanding of the relationship between MCS and strategy in the public sector in general and in the public policy context in particular. Ministries are responsible for policy and legislation that affect citizens and organisations, making research into strategy implementation and development both practically and academically important.

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This study examines the design of management control systems (MCS) in inter-organisational relationships (lOR). Adopting a contingency approach, the study aims to identify whether fit between lOR contextual variables and MCS design enhances lOR performance. This study conducted several statistical tests to examine the relationships between six lOR contextual variables and the design of MCS in lOR, and their effects on lOR performance. The contextual variables were buyer asset specificity, supplier asset specificity, task difficulty, task variability, goodwill trust and competence trust, while the MCS design was conceptualised by the reliance on bureaucratic MCS. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire from a wide range of lOR in the Malaysian banking industry. The survey yielded 209 usable responses, which represented a 70% response rate. The sample was divided into two groups according to lOR performance score. Three tests were then conducted, one for the entire sample, one for low-performing group and one for high-performing group. The results of the high-performing group were emphasised because it captures the fit between contextual variables and the appropriate MCS design. The results indicated that buyer asset specificity and competence trust had positive relationships with the reliance on bureaucratic MCS. In contrast, task difficulty and goodwill trust had negative relationships with reliance on bureaucratic MCS. The two other contextual variables were found not significant with regards to influencing the variance of MCS design. There are several practical implications arising from the findings of this research project. The results support the notion of fit as suggested by the contingency approach. Thus, buyer organisations may increase the effectiveness of their lOR by using an appropriate MCS design. The results suggest that greater (lower) reliance on bureaucratic MCS, when buyer asset specificity and competence trust are high (low), and task difficulty and goodwill trust are low (high), has a positive effect on lOR performance. In some circumstances, such as when tasks are highly difficult, the reliance on bureaucratic MCS may not lead to an enhanced lOR performance. Instead, social controls may be used to fill in the control gaps. Social controls emphasise the selection process to ensure that only trustworthy suppliers are selected for the jobs. A trusting relationship can be continually developed by regular interactions and reciprocity of exchanges in an open commitment environment. Unlike goodwill trust, the results suggest that competence trust and bureaucratic MCS has a complementary relationship. In other words, the reliance of bureaucratic MCS may not undermine competence trust. Thus, buyer organisations may rely on bureaucratic MCS to enhance lOR performance even when they have a high competence trust on their suppliers. Finally, this research project provides empirical evidence on the relationships between several lOR contextual variables and MCS design, and their effects on lOR performance. This research may enhance the generalisation of theory on the design of MCS in lOR.

SUMMARYRecent publications suggest that existing management accounting and control systems prevent business unit managers realising their desired competitive advantage. Although the concept of competitive advantage has already been thoroughly discussed in strategy literature, it has not yet been integrated in the management accounting and management control frameworks. Only a limited number of researchers have concentrated on contingency research in this area. Contingency theory simply states that organization structure, process and management control systems are contingent upon various internal and external factors, such as industry, technology, size, culture and strategy (Anthony and Young, 1988; Anthony et al., 1992).This article is an attempt to identify and investigate the management control – strategy relationship. We report the results of our exploratory field research in 18 companies (32 business units). Based on our results, we formulate some hypotheses on the observed characteristics of the management control process in case of low‐cost strategy, differentiation strategy in a standard product environment and differentiation strategy for customized products (make to order, engineer to order).

Editorial: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) - advances in epidemiology, diagnostics, treatments, host-directed therapies, pathogenesis, vaccines, and ongoing challenges.

Research on management control systems has recognized that multiple management controls operate together in business practices. Also, some frameworks that combine various management controls together have been developed to capture business practices. However, research dealing with a combination of management controls, which explicitly explains each management control and how they are combined, is lacking. In this paper, a review of several recent-year-developed works that deal with constructing management control systems frameworks will be presented to highlight these shortcomings, specifically: (1) unclear explanations about the concept of management controls and management control systems, (2) ambiguous relationships between management controls, and (3) not considering management controls comprehensively in a framework. Also, considering that various definitions for management controls and management control systems exist, a single definition will be proposed as a premise of this paper. A list of 40 management controls will be made, followed by a taxonomy of management controls, based on methods used to capture business practices in the existing research. Management controls will be classified into six variables: environment, technology, organizational structure, use of management control systems, culture, and MAS. Relationships between management controls, relationships between variables and management controls, and treatment of some special management controls, will be discussed. Finally, how this paper overcomes the shortcomings of existing work and how it refines existing control frameworks and theory will be noted.

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Organizational learning and management control systems: responding to environmental change

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Modern decentralized technologies, such as distributed registries, blockchain, smart contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), are becoming more popular every year. Therefore, the subject of our research, the results of which are presented in this article, is the processes of digitalization in the field of management control and key technologies that allow to organize an effective system of management control in a decentralized organization. The success of management control is determined not only by its ability to identify and correct undesirable deviations in a timely manner, but also by the presence of a special corporate culture based on trust and fairness. Moreover, a positive corporate culture reduces the need for a number of control procedures designed to compensate for the lack of trust within the company. This effect can also be seriously enhanced by modern digitalization technologies. The research methodology included a broad review of literature sources and a comparative analysis of modern concepts of decentralized management, as well as drawing conclusions about promising ways to evolve management control systems. The aim of the study is to identify the impact on management control systems of modern technologies such as blockchain, smart contracts and decentralized autonomous organizations. The authors summarized the experience of applying these technologies in management control systems, which are designed to ensure high individual and team performance to achieve the strategic goals of the company. The conclusion is that the blockchain-based decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is changing the forms and methods of management control, increasing the role of collective decisions and opening the way for employee initiative. DAO can significantly reduce internal and external transaction costs, including costs associated with the management and operation of management control systems. Different procedures for approval, confirmation and verification, as well as the adoption of standard management decisions are unified and automated. Accordingly, the time and the total amount of effort spent by managers to perform routine actions related to monitoring and control of employees' actions is reduced. Decentralization of control also reduces the impact of administrative procedures and ensures a higher level of trust within the organization. The decentralized model of management control is relevant for various areas of business and management, but special prospects can be seen in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi), where a wide range of professional controllers and users can be involved in auditing smart contracts and identifying shortcomings in financial services.