Management control & self-managed teams: a case study at an NGO

Abstract

This study explores management control structures in an NGO after it transitions to self-managed teams. It frames management control based on agency and stewardship theory to highlight the foundation of management control systems. Furthermore, it uses insights of stakeholder theory, formal and informal control systems, the levers of control, and coercive and enabling capabilities to make sense of the case. Generally, the case demonstrates a changed location of trust and risk, which has made way for more stewardship characteristics such as employee empowerment and delegated responsibilities. Furthermore, results demonstrate that a self-managed structure generally accompanies an increase in enabling capabilities. This is seen through more employee involvement in control systems concerning the creation of KPIs, the involvement in feedback and evaluation processes, and more employee empowerment within the project teams. Also, the case demonstrates a changed business logic that is brought about by monitoring on results. This changes the organizational culture significantly for some people and is a topic for future research. The study mainly contributes to the literature on management control in self-managed teams by showing which elements of management control are affected by a self-managed structure and how.