An examination of management control systems from an organisational life cycle perspective and their association with employee organisational commitment

The thesis examines the use of specific types of controls, the approaches to using controls, and their association with employee organisational commitment (EOC) from an organisational life cycle (OLC) perspective. Data were collected by a survey questionnaire from a random sample of 343 general managers in Australian manufacturing organisations. -- The thesis employs the "thesis by publication" format and comprises three academic papers. Paper One examines the association between the use of Snell's (1992) three types of controls (input, behaviour and output) and four of Miller and Friesen's (1984) OLC stages (birth, growth, maturity, revival) . These results indicate that both behaviour and input controls are used to a significantly greater extent than output controls in both the birth stage and the growth stage, while all three types of controls are used to a similar extent in the maturity and revival stages. The results also reveal that each type of control is used to a significantly greater extent in the growth and revival stages than the birth and maturity stages. -- Paper Two examines the association between the approaches to using controls (interactive and diagnostic) and four of Miller and Friesen's (1984) OLC stages. The results show that the interactive and diagnostic approaches are used to a similar extent in each of the four OLC stages. In addition, each approach is found to be used to a greater extent in the growth and revival stages than the birth and maturity stages. -- Paper Three examines the association between the three types of controls and the two approaches to using controls with the level of EOC. The results indicate that the use of input controls and the interactive approach to using controls are significant determinants of the level of EOC. Such associations were also explored from an OLC perspective, with the results revealing that the use of input controls is positively associated with the level of EOC in the birth and revival stages. -- The thesis contributes to the management control system (MCS) literature by adopting the configuration approach to examine MCSs from an OLC perspective. The findings provide Australian manufacturing organisations with an insight into the suitability of specific types of controls and approaches to using controls in different stages of the OLC. The findings also highlight the importance for organisations to adjust the emphasis placed on each type of control and each approach to using controls as they move from one stage to another. The thesis further contributes to the MCS literature examining the effectiveness of MCSs in respect to a behavioural outcome, EOC. In particular, given that there has been no empirical evidence provided in the literature in respect to the association between the types of controls and approaches to using controls with the level of EOC, the identified associations can assist organisations in understanding how the application of their MCSs can be used to enhance their employees' organisational commitment.