Top management teams’ shared leadership and ambidexterity: the role of management control systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 444-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timurs Umans ◽  
Elin Smith ◽  
William Andersson ◽  
William Planken
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Top Management Teams ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Teams ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Organizational Ambidexterity

The study explores how top management teams’ shared leadership is related to organizational ambidexterity in public-sector organizations, theoretically and empirically considering how this relationship is contingent on the management control system. Using a sample of 85 Swedish municipal housing corporations, we find that shared leadership has a positive relationship with organizational ambidexterity in public-sector organizations. Moreover, increasing use of new public management control systems, based on combined reward and performance controls, positively moderates this relationship. The study also finds that traditional public management control systems, based on combined planning and administrative controls, do not moderate the relationship between top management teams’ shared leadership and organizational ambidexterity. Accordingly, this article contributes to the public and strategic management literature, as well as to managerial practice. Points for practitioners The article suggests that sharing leadership within top management teams can result in a balanced resource allocation in municipal corporations. To be more effective in achieving this balance, public sector managers might consider emphasizing new public management-inspired management control systems and de-emphasizing those of a more traditional type.

Top management team’s shared leadership and ambidexterity: The role of management control systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 12254
Author(s):  
Timurs Umans ◽  
Elin Marianne Smith ◽  
William Andresson ◽  
William Planken
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Shared Leadership ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Top Management

scholarly journals The Introduction of Management Control in the Legislative Assembly of the Emilia-Romagna Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 185
Author(s):  
Pietra Paola Amata ◽  
Leonardo Draghetti ◽  
Sabrina Galiotto ◽  
Rebecca L. Orelli ◽  
Marco Tieghi
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Intermediate Step ◽  
Management Control System ◽  
Emilia Romagna Region ◽  
Legislative Assembly

The paper sheds light on management control strategies in public administrations, particularly in the case of Legislative Assembly of the Emilia-Romagna Region (AL-RER), to understand reasons, process and effects in the introduction of a management control system. The research makes use of documentary analysis and participatory observation during the years 2015-2019 to reconstruct the motivations, process and results of the introduction of a new management control system. The analysis shows that the introduction of a management control system required different strategies of change and a reorganisation of activities and processes of AL-RER. It also offered an occasion of legitimisation of the AL-RER governance based on the management control results. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the process of introducing a management control system faced obstacles that acted as inhibitors to its introduction. It was possible to overcome the obstacles thanks to an intermediate step, which required a revision of the AL-RER strategies, and a cultural, political, and organisational change. The paper contributes to the advancement of knowledge on the subject of strategies and processes followed by public sector organisations, in particular by regions, in the introduction of management control systems, offering a first contribution concerning obstacles and benefits deriving from the introduction of such systems. The research is also of interest for public sector management, politicians and technicians, as well as for management control specialists, that have to make decisions about the introduction of management control systems.

Paradoxes of Control and Creativity: Evidence from Indian Public Sector Enterprises

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (06) ◽  
pp. 2050046
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Ganguly ◽  
Satyasiba Das
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Levers Of Control

Management control systems (MCSs) are commonly assumed to limit autonomy and freedom, thereby hindering innovation. Over the past several years, researchers have studied this relationship in western societies and have compiled contradictory findings. As such, the relationship between MCSs and innovation needs to be further explored. This study seeks to provide a better understanding of this relationship by applying the theoretical levers-of-control (LoC) framework while using two new second-order constructs. Quantitative data are collected from large Indian public sector enterprises (PSE) and are analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) partial least squares (PLS) method. Findings confirm that Indian PSEs tend to use all four levers of the framework and that control and innovation can co-exist. It also differentiates the effect on innovation of two new second-order control constructs: constraining and inspirational. Findings of this study may help managers influence innovation by giving them the ability to adjust the different LoC.

Empowering middle managers in social services using management control systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Nikolaj Bukh ◽  
Anne Kirstine Svanholt
Keyword(s):  
Control Systems ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Middle Managers ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Conflicting Objectives

PurposeThis paper examines how a public sector organization combined management control systems (MCS) to comply with increased uncertainty and conflicting objectives of tight budget control, flexibility, and quality care simultaneously. It also analyzes how middle managers interpret management control intentions and manage conflicting objectives, and how locally developed MCS are coupled with top management goals.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a case-study approach, based on interviews with top and middle managements, as well as document studies conducted at a medium-sized Danish municipality.FindingsBoth constraining and enabling control systems empower middle managers and facilitate tight budget controls. Furthermore, middle managers play a crucial role in the use of MCS, develop local control systems, adjust existing control systems and influence the decisions and strategies of top management.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is context-specific, and the role of accounting in professional work varies due to the specific techniques involved.Practical implicationsThis paper shows how MCS, including budgeting and planning systems, can be applied in social services to help middle managements obtain tight budget controls while also improving service quality.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the limited extant research on the role of middle management in a control framework and demonstrates how MCS can balance conflicting goals in social services when uncertainty increases. Furthermore, this paper shows how the vertical coupling of MCS is tight when budgeting is employed for planning purposes.

scholarly journals Resilience capacities and management control systems in public sector organisations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Bracci ◽  
Mouhcine Tallaki
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Management Control Systems ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Longitudinal Case Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Coping

Purpose Inspite of the attention resilience receives in relation to public policy and public management, very few studies have analysed the internal mechanics of public sector organisations to see what is producing their resilience. Considering management control systems (MCSs) as the drivers of organisational change, this paper aims to explore their role as determinants of resilience in the public sector. The paper attempts to open the black box of organisational functioning focusing on one complex component. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopted a qualitative approach for this longitudinal case study. This paper used a mix of primary and secondary sources in terms of direct observation, semi-structured interviews and internal document analysis. This paper used a framework drawing on Barbera et al. (2017) and management control’s constraining and facilitating concepts to explore how anticipatory and coping capacities of resilience are supported and reinforced by MCSs. Findings Findings suggest that MCSs support adaptive behaviour and assist decision-making by providing knowledge and ready-to-use answers to cope with external shocks. However, this is found in case of the adoption of facilitating MCSs, which empower managers and employees and are based on stewardship roles. In such a context, MCSs played an essential role in shaping anticipatory and coping capacities. At the same time, financial shocks fostered the investment in MCSs, cyclically strengthening or developing new anticipatory and coping capacities. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first attempting to identify how facilitating MCSs, as a driver of organisational change, can make an organisation more resilient. It shows how resilience capacities are generated and strengthened via MCSs.

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