Control Combinations in Marketing: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence

Abstract

The topic of management control systems has received limited attention in the marketing literature. Though previous research has tended to view each organizational control in isolation, the authors argue that research should examine the simultaneous use of multiple controls. On the basis of previous work, a conceptual framework for combinations of controls is constructed with associated research hypotheses. Four alternative combinations or “systems” of controls are identified: (1) a traditional bureaucratic management control system with a primary emphasis on formal controls, (2) a clan system with a primary emphasis on informal controls, (3) a low control system, and (4) a high control system. The findings indicate that SBU characteristics and task complexity variables predict the type of system that is likely to be emphasized. In turn, the results indicate that the high control system is associated with highest job satisfaction followed sequentially by the clan, bureaucratic, and low control systems. The high control system also produced the lowest levels of person-role conflict and ambiguity. No significant relationship is found between the four systems and job performance. Study limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Beyond feedback control: the interactive use of performance management systems. Implications for process innovation in Italian healthcare organizations

“…These results try to go beyond the traditional studies on organizational control, which have revealed that results and behavior control reduce satisfaction with the control systems and the supervisors (Challagalla and Shervani, 1996). Similarly, Jaworski et al (1993) have demonstrated that the use of bureaucratic controls is associated with a reduction in satisfaction in the personnel subject to such controls. On the other hand, the interactive use of PMSs produces greater motivation to achieve the results thanks to the continual interaction between superiors and e19 subordinates, which allows an informal control, typical of the clan (Ouchi, 1979), to be used alongside the formal controls normally implemented in the analyzed sample.…”

How Do Controls Impact Employee Trust in the Employer?

“…Informed by the results of Study 1, three control types were measured: output, process, and normative control. Output control was measured by four items adapted from Jaworski, Stathakopoulos, and Krishnan (1993), which focus on the extent to which standards are set, progress is monitored, and goal attainment is rewarded. Process control and normative control were assessed using the items developed by Sitkin and George (2005).…”

Examining Positive Performance Implications of Role Stressors by the Indirect Influence of Positive Affect: A Study of New Business Managers

“…For example, managers in more rigid and less autonomous situations may perceive role stressors differently. Managers in large organizations are probably influenced by control systems (Jaworski, Stathakopoulos, & Krishnan, 1993); bureaucratic complexity (Fleming, 1966); hierarchical structures (Floyd & Lane, 2000); and other aspects of their organization, which possibly give them a different contextual requirement to perceive stressors. As a result, what a new-business manager may perceive as a challenge stressor, the manager of an established business may perceive as a hindrance stressor.…”