Organizational Control Systems Research Articles

Organizational culture as a predictor of job satisfaction: The role of age and gender

1. INTRODUCTIONJob satisfaction is among the most studied concepts in organizational studies. Job satisfaction is multi- dimensional construct with variety of definitions and related concepts which have been studied since the beginning of the 20th century. Smith (1969) suggested that job satisfaction can be categorized on the basis of individual's needs. Job satisfaction is defined as the sum total of individual's stance towards various job-related factors including work itself, supervisors, colleagues, working conditions, compensation and reward and recognition (Schultz et. al., 2003). Individuals are more satisfied when they feel that their abilities, values and experiences are adequately used in the organization (Buitendach and De Witte, 2005). Organizational culture hasbecome widely researched topic in the last few years. Uttal (1983, p. 66) has defined organization culture as a system of shared values (what is important) and beliefs (how things work) that interact with an organization 's people, organizational structures and control systems to produce behavioural norms . Shein (1985, p. 6) explained organizational culture as deeper level of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by members of an organization, that operate unconsciously and that define in basic taken-for-granted fashion the organization's view of itself and its environment.The primary reason for which job satisfaction has become such heavily studied notion is its impact on various organizational outcomes such as commitment, performance and identification. Researchers have studied job satisfaction broadly in the context of an organization and on individual level, but the latter has received greater attention (Judge et al., 2002). Huang and Wu (2000), Odom et al. (1990) and Silverthorne (2004) have studied the impact of different types and dimensions of organizational culture on job satisfaction, but studies pertaining to organizational values and job satisfaction are rare. Thus, the current study attempts to explore the effects of various organizational values on job satisfaction. Organizational values, along with attitudes and norms, compose organizational culture (Schein, 1985). Employee's own personality, preferences and characteristics have great impact on how they perceive organizational culture (Palthe and Kossek, 2003). Researches have also linked age, gender, job tenure and education to the job satisfaction of the employees (Moyes et al., 2006; Igbaria and Guimaraes, 1993). Therefore, the present study also investigates the influence of age and gender on the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction.2.LITERATURE REVIEW2.1.Job satisfaction, organizational culture and their relationshipResearchers have always been interested in knowing the factors that influence the attitudes and the behaviour of the employees. Aiken et al. (2000) revealed working condition to affect the employee's attitude. Similarly, Verplanken (2004) suggested individual's values to be an important aspect shaping their perception towards organization. Therefore, organizational researchers have been interested in understanding the various organizational values that influence various job attitudes. Odam et al. (1990), in their study of organizational culture, job satisfaction and organizational commitment revealed that the individual's job satisfaction and organizational commitment is negatively affected by bureaucratic culture. Silverthorne (2004) concluded in his study that job satisfaction of the employees is impacted by the supportive organizational culture, innovative organizational culture and bureaucratic organizational culture, in descending order.There has been lack of consensus amongst researchers regarding the influence of cultural dimensions on job satisfaction. Huang and Wu (2000) found job satisfaction of the employees to be positively influenced by control & management, result orientation and professionalism. …

Using a robust performance measurement system to illuminate intellectual capital

The central premise of the “fit-as-mediation” view states that knowledge-related factors could determine the usage and design of specific organizational systems, such as management accounting and control systems. This could, in turn, facilitate information processing and bring about positive organizational outcomes. While the influence of knowledge-based assets on measurable performance has been examined extensively in the intellectual capital literature, little is known concerning the role of an organizational control system in fostering the management of intellectual capital as the most strategic asset for organizations. As such, this study primarily aims to explore what role a performance measurement system plays in terms of the diversity of measurement in the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance. We incorporate social capital into the general three-dimensional classification of intellectual capital; namely, human capital, structural capital, and relational capital, to provide a more comprehensive measure of intellectual capital. Further, we conceptualize the diversity of measurement by supplementing the original Kaplan and Norton's BSC model with a new perspective, social and environmental measures. Such integration of financial, customer, internal business process, learning, and growth, along with social and environmental measures could result in an overarching and robust conceptualization of performance measurement; a concept that was barely mentioned in previous literature. We conducted a questionnaire survey involving chief financial officers of 128 Iranian public listed companies. Using the partial least squares (PLS), we find that companies with higher levels of intellectual capital emphasize a greater diversity of performance measures. The findings also show that the diversity of measurement mediates the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance. This paper may offer guidance to companies concerning the competencies needed for securing positive organizational outcomes from their knowledge resources, such as intellectual capital.

Generating sales while providing service

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the previous regulatory focus and sales force control literature suggesting that organizational control system not only moderates but also mediates the interactive effect of the assessment × locomotion on salesperson ambidextrous behavior. Organizational control system, which has behavior and outcome dimensions, moderates the effects of employee regulatory focus on their ambidextrous behavior, sales performance, and satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a survey with 163 bank frontline employees (FLEs) who sell financial products to final consumers. Each respondent was approached by a professional interviewer who presented the questionnaire and collected the answers. These respondents are FLEs, who are the ones that sell financial services and are responsible for post-sales services, such as answering customer questions and account problems. In the sample, FLEs are the primary source of revenue generation and services activities (ambidextrous features) in banking sector, similar to Bailey et al. (2016).FindingsFirst, the moderating and mediation analysis showed that the interactive effect of both regulatory focus, locomotion and assessment, predicts FLE ambidextrous behavior. Second, this interaction effect suffers a three-way interaction under organizational control system. Third, organizational control system also moderates the impact of ambidextrous behavior on performance, such that outcome-based control system amplifies the relationship. Fourth, the authors found a conditional indirect effect, in such ambidextrous behavior, mediates the indirect effect of control system on sales performance, generating stronger (vs weaker) results under an outcome-based control system (vs behavior-based control system).Research limitations/implicationsSince this study adopts the cross-sectional research design, the authors could not empirically demonstrate the causality of the relationships among constructs. The authors also analyzed the organizational control system from the FLEs perspective and not from the supervisors/managers perspective, who daily control employees activities.Originality/valueThe authors propose a conditioning indirect mediating impact of control system on performance and consumer satisfaction through ambidextrous behavior and explore the regulatory focus-ambidexterity-performance moderating chain, theorizing that this sequence depends on the level of control system.

The Impact of Internal Control Systems on Financial Performance: The Case of Health Institutions in Upper West Region of Ghana

The significance of upholding effective internal control system in organizations have been persistently and immensely emphasized, due to its positive effects on financial performance. Efficient internal control enables the prevention and detection of fraudulent activities in the institution. In line with this, persistent efforts by policy makers to pursue policies that would improve internal control system in the ministry of health have yielded abysmal results with regards to financial performance in health institutions in the Upper West Region of Ghana. This study sought to determine the impact of internal control variables on financial performance among five health institutions in the region using an ordered logistic regression model for a sample of fifty (50) respondents. We found a positive relationship between internal controls and financial performance. But only three of the control variables remained significant with pvalues less than 5%. It is recommended that the governing body of the institutions, possibly supported by the audit reports implementation committee (ARIC), ensure that the appropriate internal control systems recommended by the auditors in health institutions are monitored periodically.

The Effects of Interactions between Management Control Systems and Strategy on Firm Performance: An Empirical Study

1.IntroductionIt is a natural phenomenon for firms to determine a strategy for being successful and, in this manner, to monitor their own operations and activities that they want to realize. The environment of global competition has made firms more effective regarding this issue. Now more than ever, firms should produce with lower costs and more flexibly and should focus on improvement of their operational processes. As a result, firms can make a difference in realizing their strategies compared to their competitors. In an environment of global competition, making a difference means having good management control system (MCS) that is suitable for the strategy (Langfield-Smith, 1997; Simons, 1987).According to research, the presence of a net strategy is necessary but not sufficient. Strategy should be supported with different resources and skills, supportive organizational arrangements and control systems (Hyvonen, 2007:345). MCS can play a key role in strategy implementation by helping to translate organizational strategy into desired behaviours and results, communicating expectations, monitoring progress, providing feedback, and motivating employees through performance-based rewards (Banker, Potter, and Srinivasan, 2000; Chenhall, 2003; Chenhall and Langfield-Smith, 1998; Ittner, Larcker, and Randall, 2003; Kaplan and Norton, 2001).In an environment of intense competition, firms can prefer different strategies for their different conditions. Both a firm's variable structure based on its environment and the obtained results from MCS have great effects on this preference. To achieve goals, MCS should be compatible with the strategy and should be sufficiently effective to provide opportunities to review and revise the strategy. Thus, because of its characteristics, MCS has been at the centre of the process of strategy creation (Gond, Grubnic, Herzig and Moon, 2012: 206). For example, certain information in areas such as the development of production processes, customer satisfaction, new product and service development, product quality, the growth of business and the sustainability of this growth is very important for firms that adopt a differentiation strategy. Therefore, MCS might be more open, flexible and suitable for informal control. In contrast, for firms following a cost leadership strategy, information about cost control, trend monitoring and efficiency is more important than scanning the environment for new opportunities for formal control.There have been many studies related with MCS's. In these studies, the relationships between MCS and variables have been examined, including environmental contexts (Vandenbosch, 1999; Widener, 2007), organizational structure (Chenhall, 2003), competitive factors (O'connor, Munoz and Chan, 2011: 246-266), national culture (Chow, Shields and Wu, 1999:441-461), organizational culture (Bhimani, 2003; Henri, 2006a: 77-103), Corporate Social Responsibility (Arjalies and Julia Mund;2013), learning (Abernethy ve Brownell, 1999; Henri, 2006b: 529-558; Kloot, 1997), professional background (Naranjo-Gil ve Hartmann, 2007: 29-41), unethical behaviour (Pascal Langevin ve Carla Mendoza, 2013), strategy (Hans Bruining, Marcel Bonnet, Mike Wright, 2004; Ralph Kober, Juliana Ng, Byron J. Paul, 2007; Jean-Pascal Gond, Suzana Grubnic, Christian Herzig, Jeremy Moon, 2012; Kumar and Subramaniam,1997), strategy and environment (Sim and Teoh, 1997), strategy and national culture (Bhimani, 2003; Henri, 2006a: 77-103; Tubagus Ismail, Lili Sugeng Wiyantoroa, Meutiab, and Munawar Muchlish, 2012), strategy and external environment (Sofiah Md Auzair, 2011), strategic risks and uncertainties (Widener; 2007), organizational life cycle stage and business strategy (Su, Baird, and Schoch, 2014; Auzair and Smith, 2005), resource sharing and performance (Govindarajan and fisher; 1990), performance and cooperation (Habib Mahama, 2006), and performance and product innovation (Bisbe and Otley, 2004). …

Effects of trust and distrust on effort and budgetary slack: an experiment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether trust and distrust in upper-level managers exert different influences on the budgetary proposals of middle managers. Such proposals involve different levels of managerial effort that impact overall budgetary slack. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a laboratory experiment with 160 business managers. Findings The results show that the more (less) middle managers trust (distrust) their upper-level managers, the more (the less) effort they commit to budgetary proposals. The authors also find that middle managers with low trust are prone to invest more effort and thus create less budgetary slack than managers with high distrust. The results also show that the introduction of suspicion does not vary this initial choice of effort and budgetary slack. Research limitations/implications This paper shows the importance of trust and distrust as informal control systems in organizations. The findings support the importance of extrinsic motivation for enhancing effort and reducing budgetary slack. There are a wide range of exogenous variables that have an effect on the development of trust and distrust. Practical implications Practitioners may improve their management control by facilitating trust and preventing distrust in interpersonal relationships because both are informal controls that can reduce and increase, respectively, dysfunctional behaviors in organizations, such as budgetary slack. Originality/value This paper is among the first to show the distinct effects of trust and distrust (high and low) in the efforts of middle managers. This study provides a dynamic viewpoint of trust through the introduction of suspicion in a budget negotiation.

Identifying and Managing Control System Benefits and Costs

AbstractA well‐functioning management control system is essential to ensure the organization's strategy is executed as planned. While accounting students are provided many opportunities to master the design of management control systems, students are provided fewer opportunities to practice applying management control systems. This interactive role play allows students to experience the challenges managers face when applying organizational control systems. The role play fits best at the end of the unit where instructors have reviewed management control system design and application and is best suited for undergraduate and MBA students who have little or no supervisory experience. Students rated the role play as highly effective, as 97 percent (n = 38) of the students recommend that instructors at other institutions adopt this exercise.

Management control systems and organizational ambidexterity

In recent years, the management literature has increasingly investigated organizational ambidexterity—the ability to balance exploitative and explorative activities—as an important antecedent to firm survival and performance. Some recent studies indicate that management control systems may be able to foster organizational ambidexterity. The aim of the present short survey paper is to provide an overview of the current literature on organizational ambidexterity and management control systems. Overall, the results of the review show that rather than a single specific management control system, a package of management control systems and various forms of using such systems may be necessary to successfully achieve and manage organizational ambidexterity. In line with this notion, some of the included papers even find a complementary effect of the combined use of opposing management controls to support the achievement of organizational ambidexterity. The paper concludes with several specific ideas for further research.

Assimilation of military group decision support systems in Korea

The successful assimilation of group decision support systems (GDSS) in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) systems of military organizations is critical for making fast and accurate modern military operations decisions. This study empirically examines factors affecting military group decision support systems’ (MGDSS) assimilation and the mediating effect of structural appropriation in the Korean Army in a technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework. Two hundred and forty-eight users or former users of the Army Tactical Command Information System (ATCIS) participated in the survey and a partial least squares (PLS) analysis was used to analyze the data. The results found that institutional pressure (IP) has the strongest effect on structural appropriation, followed by IT infrastructure (ITI) and top management support (TMS). Structural appropriation plays a significant mediating part between the TOE factors and MGDSS assimilation. The results provide implications and contribute valuable insights for military organizations’ successful assimilation of MGDSS.

The administrative decision in an organizational control system

The administrative decision in an organizational control system

Obstacles To The Adoption Of The IAS/IFRS In Tunisia

To guarantee the production of financial information that is useful for economic decision-making, most countries have a set of accounting standard used in preparing the financial statements. Indeed, the use of a common accounting language by all companies operating in the same economic space allows different users to monitor the activities of these entities in time and space and, therefore, take reasonable decisions. Thereby, the international accounting standards are a necessary to clarify the financial disclosure and make reading financial statements conform to a single repository easier. This strengthens the investor’s confidence, stimulates the financial market and ensures the best qualities that the financial information should be endowed. In deciding to adopt the international accounting standards IAS/IFRS, Tunisian authorities have launched a challenge to prompt a fast and adequate transition to a new accounting, financial, informational, organizational and internal control systems. However, this presents some obstacles related to the nature of the Tunisian economy which is characterized by a strong presence of small and medium companies, to the differences between the tax system and the accounting system, the conservative attitude of leaders and the high concentration of ownership. The results of our research analysis shows that the conservative attitude of managers and the lack of dynamic and efficient markets are the most important obstacles to adoption of IAS/IFRS in Tunisia according to the Tunisians Certified Public Accountants TCPAs). We detailed our analysis for the accounting, tax and economic obstacles. For the accounting, we found that the application of IAS 19, IAS 36 and IFRS 4 are the standards that cause more problems at the moment of their implementation according to the TCPAs. In addition, the deferred tax, the actuarial method and the treatment financial instruments are the most complex treatments in IAS/IFRS. Finally, the differences between the Tunisian accounting system and the international system are undoubtedly an important obstacle. Concerning the tax obstacles, we found that companies prepare their financial statements first in accordance with tax rules. In fact, the differences between the tax rules of the Tunisian accounting system and the IAS/IFRS are undoubtedly an obstacle to a better adoption of them. In addition, another obstacle is the readiness of tax administration for the adoption of the IAS/IFRS. Finally, for the economic obstacles, we found that the IAS/IFRS’ adoption and implementation costs and the costs related to their enforcement are the main economic obstacles.

Son los códigos éticos un instrumento de gestión de la responsabilidad social? Un estudio exploratorio en Andalucía

Purpose: The growing concern for social responsibility and/or business ethics must be reflected in the control systems of organizations. Therefore we are concerned to analyze whether the ethical codes have been introduced as a management tool of social responsibility to build sustainable value-based organizations.Design/methodology/approach: Development of a survey based on the literature review of code types and motivations. We performed a descriptive analysis of the information obtained from companies based in Andalusia under study. Furthermore, it has been implemented a test of mean difference and an analysis of variance to contrast the hypotheses. Findings: The study supports a tendency to use the ethical codes by Andalusian companies analyzed, influenced by firm size. Similarly, the incidence of immediate environment is confirmed. Research limitations/implications: The study is exploratory in the Andalusian area due to restrictions databases and sample size. Practical implications: The results allow an approach to the Andalusian business reality and to the management systems related with social responsibility and business ethics. Social implications: It has highlighted the need for training in this area and that measures to promote ethics and corporate social responsibility are taken from the public sector, distinguishing between needs that may have micro and small enterprises from medium or large companies. Originality/value: This study contributes to knowledge about the importance of integrating instruments that promote responsible and sustainable management based on values in management control systems and about what were the motivations that are influencing both, for and against, in this action. Motivations that should be taken into account by decision-makers and influential in business development agencies.

Models and Mechanisms for the Management of ICT-Technoparks

The paper shows that the innovative development of economy requires improvement and systematization of management processes. And innovation is activated using modern forms of organization, application and commercialization of high technology through integration of science, education, manufacturing, business and government. These processes are jointly carried out by innovative structures. In this regard, the paper describes the control features of ICT-technoparks, which have interacting structural elements. The paper specifies imperfection of the current control systems of innovative organizations. Therefore, different approaches are given to the definition of the management content. It is proved that the problem of increasing the efficiency of the management process requires the development of complex control system of ICT-technoparks. The paper specifies the basic management levels of ICT-technoparks, and presents its tasks and functions, as well as the main activities of executive management of ICT-technoparks. The paper describes the basic model and business management model. Depending on the time factor, the strategic and tactical control aspects of ICT-technoparks are analyzed. As the management of ICT-technoparks is viewed as a complex socio-economic system, the public and collegial governance mechanisms are proposed. It is proposed to develop a control system of ICT-technoparks and an appropriate control mechanisms. These mechanisms take into account the key moments in the development process of innovative control system of ICT-technoparks.

Creating organizational and technological automatized control system of water supply of a large city

One of the main problems in the municipal economy is the problem of improving the quality and efficiency of water supply systems. In the very large water systems hidden reserves, the use of which allows to achieve significant savings of unproductive material and energy costs, and improve the provision of the population and industry with water. In this article the structure of the system of water supply control in a big city is presented. These studies are aimed to the full, timely and uninterrupted supply of all consumers of water supply systems of cities in the desired quantity of water specified quality. The structure scheme of a city water supply system which represents the interconnection between subsystems and their functions is worked out. The main problems of automatized system of technological processes control of water supply system while designing are discussed. The analysis of the work of automated process control systems for urban water supply, draws attention to the main difficulties and problems in their construction. Working in a number of cities in the country and the UIC automated process control system for water supply are purely informational. You must be connected to the system of collecting information for a larger number of measured pressure points of the network, and operating an automated process control system of water supply and putting on optimal control. The implementation of organizational and technological automated control system of water supply of large cities, in practice, can significantly improve the quality and efficiency of the water supply, make better use of their internal resources by reducing wastage of water, reducing energy costs, reducing the number of accidents on the network.

PROCESY KONTROLI KIEROWNICZEJ W POLSKICH PRZEDSIĘBIORSTWACH

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the organizational control systems. The paper starts with presenting the concept and nature of the managerial control and defining of logic of management control process, that allow to present and discuss results of research on management control processes in Polish enterprises.

Anteseden Keberhasilan Eksekusi Strategi: Sebuah Model dan Proposisi Berdasarkan Studi Kasus di Industri Telekomunikasi

Executing strategy is often more difficult than formulating it, and executional capability will eventually separate a firm’s performance than its competitors’. Despite its importance, research on strategy implementation has been limited and fragmented (Hrebiniak, 2006). Through a case study on two Indonesian telecommunication companies, as well as literature review, the author suggests the proposition that ‘hard factors’ such as organizational structure and control system, as well as ‘soft factors’ such as empowerment and corporate culture, play important roles in determining the success of strategy execution. To test the propositions, the paper also suggests a conceptual model that can be used in future research, in order to better understand the influence of the four antecedents on the success of strategy implementation.

Методические подходы к оценке системы внутреннего контроля в аграрных организациях

The article presents the stages of evaluating the effectiveness of the internal control system in agricultural organizations. The classification of the stages of distortion
 of facts of economic life concerning accounting procedure stageswas suggested. A matrix of general and application controls of agricultural organizations was
 developed. Procedures to verify the operation of controls and control procedures in terms of budgetary subsidies accounting were presented.

A configuration approach to management control systems design in service organizations

Purpose The purpose of this study is to utilize a configuration approach to examine the relationships between multiple contingent variables and management control systems (MCS) in service organizations from various industries. The contingent variables include service process type, cost leadership and differentiation strategies, environmental unpredictability, change and complexity and organizational life cycle stage. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were administered to the financial controllers of service organizations operating in Australia. Cluster analysis is utilized to reveal the MCSs fit. Findings The data reveals that high-performing service organizations are those firms that place high emphasis on a differentiation strategy. The lower performers, on the other hand, are firms with a lack of emphasis on both cost leadership and differentiation strategies. Overall, the data demonstrates that strategic orientation plays an important role in high-performing organizations and the ability to incorporate various contingent situations determines the effectiveness of an organization. Practical implications The potentially broad framework offered in this study allows managers from various service industries to relate the variations in the combination of situations to those of their firms. The service managers’ experience with certain type of combinations can assist them to identify the strategic position of their respective organizations. Consequently, service managers can estimate the prospect for further development to enhance the firm performance. Originality/value This study offers a holistic view of the multiple and simultaneous relationships between contingent factors and MCS design in service organizations using a configuration approach. This paper contributes to the literature on organizational configurations in particular by studying the systematic nature of effective MCSs in service organizations when adapting to the contextual settings of the organizations.

Innovation in organisational control systems: toward greater accountability

Organisational control systems are a central phenomenon, yet despite their significance, top-down command-and-control approaches often dominate research. This surmise creates no problem in hierarchical organisations where everyone knows their work duties and what is expected of them. However, it becomes troublesome in knowledge work, where the sets of tasks carried out by any two members of the organisation differ significantly. The article offers conceptual insights elucidating control systems based on the notion of accountability; which help to raise awareness and mobilise efforts beyond the boundaries of long-established hierarchical control. Implications for the theory and practice of organisational control are discussed.

It's All about All of Us: The Rise of Narcissism and Its Implications for Management Control System Research

ABSTRACTWhile the construct of narcissism has existed for well over 100 years, it has become the most discussed personality disorder of recent times and has the potential to influence organizational culture and control systems. Although systematic research on narcissism has been conducted at the individual level, research on its effects within organizations is still in its nascent stages. Our objectives in this paper are threefold: (1) to present an overview of the narcissism construct and its causes, (2) to review how narcissistic employees behave differently in work settings compared to less narcissistic employees, and (3) to develop a framework for research from which we develop testable hypotheses about how increased levels of employee narcissism can affect the design and performance of management control systems.