Assessing the Control Literature: Looking Back and Looking Forward

This review provides a comprehensive picture of the range of control influences in organizations. We begin by describing and labeling the various types of control mechanisms and control systems examined in the literature. We then identify several issues in the control literature that are currently compromising scholars’ capacities to develop a full, complete, and comprehensive knowledge base about control dynamics. Theorists have been constrained by frameworks that present important but relatively limited pictures of how individuals experience, comprehend, address, and attend to the potentially wide array of control influences they encounter. We use these observations to propose new directions for control research that will help scholars develop richer and more complete but also more nuanced understandings of how individuals experience and engage the various forms of control they encounter in organizational life.

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The control systems structures of energy metabolism

Journal of The Royal Society Interface ◽

10.1098/rsif.2009.0371 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 7 (45) ◽

pp. 651-665 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Mathieu Cloutier ◽

Peter Wellstead

Keyword(s):

Energy Metabolism ◽

Control Systems ◽

Enzymatic Reaction ◽

Reaction Rates ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Energy Regulation ◽

Systematic Analysis ◽

Perfect Adaptation ◽

Energetic State ◽

And Control

The biochemical regulation of energy metabolism (EM) allows cells to modulate their energetic output depending on available substrates and requirements. To this end, numerous biomolecular mechanisms exist that allow the sensing of the energetic state and corresponding adjustment of enzymatic reaction rates. This regulation is known to induce dynamic systems properties such as oscillations or perfect adaptation. Although the various mechanisms of energy regulation have been studied in detail from many angles at the experimental and theoretical levels, no framework is available for the systematic analysis of EM from a control systems perspective. In this study, we have used principles well known in control to clarify the basic system features that govern EM. The major result is a subdivision of the biomolecular mechanisms of energy regulation in terms of widely used engineering control mechanisms: proportional, integral, derivative control, and structures: feedback, cascade and feed-forward control. Evidence for each mechanism and structure is demonstrated and the implications for systems properties are shown through simulations. As the equivalence between biological systems and control components presented here is generic, it is also hypothesized that our work could eventually have an applicability that is much wider than the focus of the current study.

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Production planning and control systems — State of the art and new directions

Lecture Notes in Computer Science - Information Management in Computer Integrated Manufacturing ◽

10.1007/3-540-60286-0_102 ◽

1995 ◽

pp. 195-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

V Sridharan ◽

John J. Kanet

Keyword(s):

Control Systems ◽

Production Planning ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Production Planning And Control ◽

Planning And Control ◽

New Directions ◽

And Control

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KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION IN STATE MACHINES OF CONTROL SYSTEMS

International scientific and technical conference Information technologies in metallurgy and machine building ◽

10.34185/1991-7848.itmm.2021.01.020 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 181-184

Author(s):

Mykhailo Poliakov

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Representation ◽

Knowledge Base ◽

Control Systems ◽

The State ◽

State Machines ◽

Causal Relationships ◽

Interface Elements ◽

Circular Causality ◽

And Control ◽

Control Machine

The questions of knowledge representation in control automata of control systems are considered. It is proposed to describe the interaction of the system object and the control automaton using the functions of actions and reactions; to consider the states of the control machine as elements that form the contour of activity and control in the system; describe causal relationships in circuits based on the principles of circular causality; the structure of the state controlled by all interface elements is proposed. Examples of Prologue programs with a knowledge base on the contour of activity and queries about the serviceability of contour elements are given.

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Governance and control in networks: a case study of the Universal Postal Union

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal ◽

10.1108/aaaj-04-2014-1687 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 551-580 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Eksa Kilfoyle ◽

Alan J. Richardson

Keyword(s):

Control Systems ◽

Management Accounting ◽

Network Governance ◽

Management Control ◽

Collaborative Networks ◽

Governance Structures ◽

Control Mechanisms ◽

Content Type ◽

And Control ◽

Postal Sector

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to adopt “whole network” perspective and analyzes the governance and control mechanisms in the Universal Postal Union (UPU), one of the oldest and largest inter-governmental networks, through the lens of institutional entrepreneurship theory. The purpose is to introduce a typology of network governance forms to the accounting literature and to analyze the governance and management control mechanisms within the UPU, a “participatory federation” (Provan, 1983) type of network that has managed the challenges of collective collaboration since 1875. Design/methodology/approach – The study benefits from unlimited access to all archival materials of the UPU such as minutes of Congress and committee meetings since 1875 as well as secondary documents and market studies related to the postal sector. The data reported in this study are derived from the archives of the UPU in Berne, Switzerland and interviews conducted with senior officials. Findings – Drawing on the work of Provan (1983) and Provan and Kenis (2008) the authors identify five “ideal type” network governance forms based on such variables as differences in the relative power of network participants and whether these networks have arisen spontaneously or due to external coercion, the authors classify the UPU as a “participatory federation.” Within the theoretical boundaries of this typology the authors identify the multi level governance structures and the use of management control mechanisms by each level of governance. The authors introduce a distinction between the “network constitutional organization” that focusses on the socialization of network members and strategy-level orchestration of the overall network and the “network administrative organization” (NAO) that mobilizes management accounting and control mechanisms to monitor, encourage and facilitate member collaboration. The authors propose that control within a participatory federation is enacted through collective entrepreneurship by governance bodies using management accounting and control mechanisms as institutional carriers. Research limitations/implications – The paper is focussed on the current state of the UPU’s network structure and processes and did not explore the dynamics around the emergence of the different network governance and control mechanisms. An exploration of the collective construction by network participants of the need for these mechanisms would provide insights into how they emerge and might lead to a better understanding of the role of NAOs in networks. Practical implications – The paper highlights the challenges faced by collaborative networks and identifies enabling characteristics of a participatory federation’s governance bodies. The empirical observations within the context of the UPU contribute to the theoretical understanding of the desirable characteristics of participatory federations that might be applicable to similar public and private collaborative networks Originality/value – This study expands the knowledge of management accounting and control systems in networks. It bridges a gap in the accounting literature by adopting a “whole network” perspective and by differentiating types of network governance structures that use management accounting and control systems. This contributes to the understanding of accounting and control across the full range of organizational forms.

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