Leadership and control system design

Abstract

Little attention has been given to the role of leadership characteristics in the organization design literature despite significant evidence of its importance in explaining firm behavior. This study develops and tests a model to assess the effects of leadership style on three control choices that are considered integral elements of a firm's management control system; namely the delegation choice, the use of planning and control systems and the performance measurement system. Our results, based on data collected from 128 profit center managers, indicate that leadership style is a significant predictor of senior management's use of the planning and control system and their use of the performan..