Exploring Control Modes in Globally Distributed IT Work

摘要

Organizational control is a process through which management influences the behavior of its employees to meet project and task expectations. Researchers have identified two modes of control, namely formal control and informal control. Outcome and behavior controls are considered formal control mechanisms and clan control is classified as an informal control mechanism. This paper explores how these controls play out in distributed IT work where team members are composed of subgroups that are distributed across countries and cultures. This paper is based on qualitative data gathered from a three-years longitudinal study of an IS organization with globally distributed solution centers in the US, Ireland and India. The paper concludes with seven findings for globally-distributed IT work: (1) In distributed IT work, formal controls are complemented with informal controls; (2) When both formal and informal control modes are used, informal controls have additive powers that improve the effectiveness of formal controls; (3) Formal controls aid organizational culture diffusion; (4) Personal relationship building can increase clan control; (5) Social face-to-face meetings can increase clan control; (6) Pop culture training can increase clan control; (7) Social brokers can increase clan control.