Management Control, Motivation and Performance


Speaker


Abstract

We examine different types of management control (MC), their relation with performance and the mediating role of motivation in these relations. We draw on self-determination theory to hypothesize that different types of MC lead to different types of employee motivation, which in turn affect performance. We test our predictions using survey responses from employees with similar, non-managerial tasks in 105 Dutch local governments. We operationalized Merchant and Van der Stede's (2007) object-of-control framework, and we analyzed our data using structural equation modelling. We find that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation mediate the relation between MC and performance. Specifically, the evidence suggests that the use of personnel and cultural MC positively associates with employees' intrinsic motivation, and that the use of results controls positively associates with employees' extrinsic motivation. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are positively associated with performance, and we also found a positive direct relation between action controls and performance.