Controller involvement in a project management setting: Effects on project functions and performance

Purpose: The authors examine the extent to which a controller's involvement in project functions (namely definition and scope, organization, constraints management and risk management) cascades down to project performance.  Design/methodology/approach: The authors test the study’s framework using survey data from a sample of project leaders in German and Swiss firms. Responses were analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) technique.  Findings: The authors find that controllers contribute to project success via the previously described project functions. Further, the study reveals the crucial role of controllers in managing uncertainty and project risks.  Research limitations/implications: Although the arguments used in this research were not country specific and suggest that the findings of this study also apply to the controller professional in general, this study clearly acknowledges that further research is needed to address the effects of this role in different jurisdictions given the specific characteristics of controllers acting in German-speaking countries.  Practical implications: The authors provide insights on the role of controllers at an operational level, like project management, highlighting the need for controllers to support an effective project governance.  Originality/value: The authors add to the literature by examining the role of controllers in highly knowledge-intensive, highly pressured, task-driven, interdependent and dynamic operational settings, thus contributing to a better understanding of how controllers function at an operational level. The authors also strengthen a broader role of controllers in project management that goes beyond their historical controlling activities to include more modern functions, extending previous studies analyzing their professional identity

Examining the joint effects of strategic priorities, use of management control systems, and personal background on hospital performance

This study aims to respond to recent calls for a better understanding of the factors that support the effectiveness of formal control practices in hospitals. Based on survey data from 117 top-level managers in Belgian hospitals, the study investigates the performance effects of the alignment between the use of performance measurement systems (PMS), strategic priorities, and the particular role top-level managers’ personal background plays in this context. The quantitative results suggest that it is the top-level managers’ personal background that brings to life the benefits of the alignment between the use of PMS and strategic priorities in hospitals. Specifically, this paper shows that when the emphasis on partnership or governance strategic priority is high, the effect of the interactive use of PMS on hospital performance is more positive for top-level managers with a clinical background than for those with an administrative background. This study offers value for practitioners in that it supports the argument that hospitals can benefit from involving physicians in the top-level management team

Three essays on the interactive use of management control systems : a survey in hospitals

This doctoral thesis includes three essays on the notion of interactive use of management control systems. The first essay aims to improve the theoretical and empirical understanding of what does the interactive use of management control systems mean. The second essay investigates the empirical impact of the strategic uncertainty on the interactive use of management control systems and how this impact fluctuates according to different organizational contexts in which top-level hospital managers make decisions and control. The third essay examines the relative contribution of the strategic priorities (i.e., organizational driver) and top-level hospital managers’ personal characteristics (i.e., individual driver) to explain the interactive use of management control systems. Based on these three essays, this doctoral thesis enlarges the knowledge on the theoretical and empirical meaning of the interactive use of management control systems and provides empirical evidence on the drivers of the interactive use of management control systems in a hospital setting.(IAG 3) -- UCL, 201