Exploring management control mechanisms in Inter-organizational Relationships

The Ph.D. research area revolves around Management Control Mechanisms (MCMs) in Inter-Organizational Relationships (IORs) with a focus on R&D project alliances. A systematic literature review is performed to address the need for comprehensive overview on the broad yet fragmented body of literature on MCMs in IORs. Based on the results of the review, management control has given emphasis to MCMs that promote learning, creativity and relational quality and less on strict formal MCMs, stimulating the debate on the complementary and substitutive relationship of different types of MCMs. The extant literature offers scant investigation on how MCMs work especially in managing tensions that occur because of the heterogeneous and dynamic settings in IORs. Moreover, the evolution of MCMs over the life of the IORs has not been adequately explored. This research focuses on the use of different types of MCMs in the development process of R&D project alliances. The fact that alliance members come from different backgrounds, with different views, assumptions, objectives and knowledge specializations can both be an advantage for developing radical innovations and a complex managerial challenge. The study offered answers to the following research questions: RQ.1: "Which type of tensions can emerge in the development process of R&D project alliances"; RQ.2: "How are MCMs used to manage the tensions that are present in the development process of R&D project alliances?" The methodology follows a qualitative multiple case study that relies on interviews with different project stakeholders representing the different partner organizations involved in the R&D project alliance. The Straussian Grounded Theory (GT) approach is performed as the data analysis technique choosing a coding paradigm that linked the causes, actions, conditions, and consequences to better explain the observed phenomena. In this way, how the traces of evidence lead to the main findings is better explained. The comparison of the data using the within-case and cross-case analyses allows for the replication of results, which increased the reliability of findings. The results of the study identify three types of tensions managed using MCMs in the development process of R&D project alliances, namely tension among partners' goals, tension between the project organizational levels, and tensions among scientific epistemic communities. The interplay between formal and informal MCMs in managing the tensions are investigated in two periods, beginning from the project definition phase to the project execution phase. The findings support the complementary view on the relationship between formal and informal MCMs. Findings raise the conclusion that formal mechanisms create the necessary conditions for informal mechanisms to work effectively in managing tensions in R&D project alliances. Lessons teach practitioners to gain better appreciation on establishing formal MCMs. Formal MCMs should not only be perceived as mandatory steps to comply with funding requirements, nor should they be seen as restrictions that limit and slow down creativity. The limitations set by the formal MCMs are not intended to restrict, but rather to allow flexibility and self-organization. Evidences relating to formal structure and functions suggests the importance of choosing to organize the projects following a hub-driven structure and the importance of choosing the right project manager. It provides the minimum assurance that tensions can be managed and resolved in case tensions lead to instability.

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Toegankelijkheid:Closed