The Nature and Use of Formal Control Systems for Management Control and Strategy Implementation

Management control research from organization theory, accounting, and business policy is reviewed; and a two-stage qualitative study of management control systems (MCSs) used in business organizations is reported. The study identified four MCS components used at the middle management level: budget, policies and procedures, performance appraisal system, and statistical reports. Each MCS component played a role during the control cycle of target setting, monitoring, and corrective feedback. The findings were used to propose two models: One model links the MCS to business level strategy implementation, and the other defines primary and secondary roles for MCS components in the management control process.