Management control system models in China: The design and choice based on/facing to control environment

Control environment, which can be divided into external and internal environment, is one of the basic elements of management control systems. This paper stresses on the role of control environment when the decision makers design and make choice of the suitable management control system model for the company. After giving the definition and analysis of the external and internal environment, we review the literature on the evolution of management control system model issues to draw the consensus of the role of control environment in designing management control models. Much attention has been given to Chinese environment in this paper. And the environment of company management control in China is so diversified that there is no one-size-fits-all model. Therefore we develop four models to suit for the various control environments, i.e. regulation control systems, budget control systems, evaluation control systems and incentive control systems. According to China's current situation of control environment, most companies require regulation control system model to implement strategies. Budget control system model are an advanced and feasible control model which is not suitable for all the companies. And so far, only a few companies can adopt the evaluation control system model while fewer companies can directly adopt the incentive control systems model. Overall, the understanding of the control environment is essential for the establishment and selection of internal control models.