IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/euract/v28y2019i5p901-928.html

The Impact of Management Control on Employee Motivation and Performance in the Public Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Berend van der Kolk
  • Paula M.G. van Veen-Dirks
  • Henk J. ter Bogt

Abstract

This study examines the relations among various types of management control, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and performance in the public sector. We draw on motivation crowding theory and self-determination theory to argue that four different types of management control (i.e. personnel, cultural, action, and results control) are likely to have an influence on intrinsic motivation and/or extrinsic motivation. We test a structural equation model using survey data from 105 similar departments in the public sector. Our findings indicate that the use of personnel and cultural controls is positively associated with employees’ intrinsic motivation, and that the use of results controls is positively associated with employees’ extrinsic motivation. Moreover, both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are positively associated with performance. Taken together, these findings support the idea advocated by New Public Management proponents that results control can enhance employee motivation and performance in the public sector. However, the findings also highlight an essential nuance; in addition to results control, personnel and cultural controls are also important, as they enhance intrinsic motivation and performance. This implies that a sole focus on results control is too narrow and can lead to suboptimal levels of employee motivation and performance in the public sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Berend van der Kolk & Paula M.G. van Veen-Dirks & Henk J. ter Bogt, 2019. "The Impact of Management Control on Employee Motivation and Performance in the Public Sector," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 901-928, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:28:y:2019:i:5:p:901-928
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2018.1553728
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09638180.2018.1553728
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09638180.2018.1553728?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Morgan Kaunda, Tryson Yangailo, 2023. "Motivation on Employee Performance through Top Leadership Commitment," International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, ToKnowPress, vol. 12, pages 143-162.
    2. Paula M. G. Veen-Dirks & Marijke C. Leliveld & Wesley Kaufmann, 2021. "The effect of enabling versus coercive performance measurement systems on procedural fairness and red tape," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 269-294, June.
    3. Valentina Beretta & Chiara Demartini & Sara Trucco, 2021. "The perceived managerial discretion: A methodological perspective," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 1), pages 123-140.
    4. Folkert de Jong, 2023. "All on Board, Take Off! An Example of Practitioner¡¯s Research on Teachers¡¯ Professional Well-being in Higher Education in Their Early Career Stages," Journal of Management and Strategy, Journal of Management and Strategy, Sciedu Press, vol. 14(1), pages 31-47, May.
    5. van Elten, Hilco J. & van der Kolk, Berend, 2025. "Performance management, metric quality, and trust: Survey evidence from healthcare organizations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(6).
    6. Laura Khachan & Maïté Rateau & Laurent Cappelletti, 2020. "Sales Measures do not fit all: A little bit of everything," Post-Print hal-02888080, HAL.
    7. Nair, Sujay & Abernethy, Margaret A. & Jiang, Yile (Anson) & Lillis, Anne M., 2024. "The interdependence between the choice of fixed-term professional workers and the control environment," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Shi, Linxi & Li, Pingli & Vithana, Krishanthi & Xue, Bai & Al-Sayed, Mahmoud, 2025. "Hospital Management Accounting Systems: Evolving roles, actors, and interactions," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(6).
    9. Felício, Teresa & Samagaio, António & Rodrigues, Ricardo, 2021. "Adoption of management control systems and performance in public sector organizations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 593-602.
    10. Kidron, Aviv & Vinarski-Peretz, Hedva, 2024. "Linking psychological and social capital to organizational performance: A moderated mediation of organizational trust and proactive behavior," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 245-254.
    11. Kristin Rosalina & Ruzita Jusoh, 2024. "Levers of Control, Counterproductive Work Behavior, and Work Performance: Evidence From Indonesian Higher Education Institutions," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:28:y:2019:i:5:p:901-928. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/REAR20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.