Organizations with changing structures: how to control?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe management control systems (MCS) as a package within a festival, as it examines managerial use of management controls over time. Moreover, this study discusses the relation of controls to flexibility and decentralization of organizations which have to deal with constraints such as short development periods, individualization of services/products and resource scarcity. The research thus introduces the elements of time and intensity of use of controls in a time-dependent scenario. Design/methodology/approach - This descriptive case study utilizes interviews, observations, document analysis and other tools of qualitative research. Findings - This paper reveals that single management controls used by managers configure MCS as a package. These controls are utilized with different intensity throughout the year based on activities that are planned or expected to happen. Such use of controls provides needed flexibility for the organization in which the structure is changing over a short period (one year). Research limitations/implications - The single unit subjective analysis that was employed does not allow for generalized results and comparison. Originality/value - This rich empirical study informs practitioners on how to tackle daily festival challenges. Moreover, it brings theoretical understanding of management controls as a package in real-life context.