The impact of manufacturing flexibility on management control system design

1995 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Abernethy ◽  
Anne M. Lillis
2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-145
Author(s):  
Fábio Frezatti ◽  
Emanuel Junqueira ◽  
Diógenes de Souza Bido ◽  
Artur Roberto do Nascimento ◽  
Tânia Regina Sordi Relvas

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Stewart

This paper examines the management control-system design of mid-19th century U.S. slave plantations using a contingency theory framework. Large rice plantations that relied on forced labor and tidal-flow agricultural technology were very profitable for their owners. This paper presents a model that links these favorable operating results to a close fit between the control-system design and three key contingent environmental variables. Absentee owners hired managers to provide on-site oversight and periodic operational reporting. These managers relied on slave drivers to assign individualized daily tasks to the plantation's field hands and monitor their performance. Productive field slaves were rewarded with greater free time each working day. In addition, many slaves worked cooperatively with their masters to obtain better jobs outside the rice fields and cash income. Ultimately, however, it was the institution of chattel slavery that kept the slaves working in the rice fields under oppressive and unhealthy conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 71-91
Author(s):  
Clara Xiaoling Chen ◽  
Jeremy B. Lill ◽  
Thomas W. Vance

ABSTRACT Using an online survey of 468 U.S. employees from diverse industries and professions, we provide empirical evidence that management control system design choices can affect autonomous motivation in employees. Drawing on self-determination theory and the levers of control framework, we predict and find that employee autonomous motivation is positively associated with the use of beliefs control systems and interactive control systems and negatively associated with the use of diagnostic control systems. Moreover, we find that the joint use of diagnostic and interactive controls is positively associated with autonomous motivation. We also find a positive association between employees' autonomous motivation and individual self-reported effort, job performance, and creativity. Additional analyses examine the sources of motivation behind these results, focusing on identified motivation. The theory and results of our study provide a potential explanation for the recent trend in practice of organizations increasingly emphasizing their values and higher purposes. Data Availability: Data are available upon request.


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