The impact of inter-organizational management control systems on performance: a longitudinal case study of a supplier relation in automotive

摘要

This study investigates whether appropriate management control design of supplier relations is associatedwith better performance. Although management control systems (MCSs) are found to be contingent onsituational characteristics, it remains unclear whether this contingency fit contributes to performance. Inorder to illustrate the existence and refine the dynamics of the fit-performance association, we perform alongitudinal case study of an exemplary automotive manufacturer-supplier relation that was subject toconsiderable change and severe performance difficulties in the course of time. As proposed, case findingsshow that if the supplier is incapable of dealing with changed contingencies, a MCS contingency misfit isassociated with poor operational performance. However, this misfit is only temporal, as the manufactureradapts the MCS to fit the changed supplier relation and regain operational performance. In addition, thelongitudinal study suggests that trust and basic formal control (control continuously exercised under allcircumstances) are complements, while trust substitutes for extra formal control (control set up on top ofbasic formal control). Finally, the data indicate a timing difference in the substitutive relation: the buildingup of extra formal control proceeds gradually, while the lowering happens almost immediately.