RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT CONTROL 283
the question of how legitimacy becomes established and how it works through
to different hierarchical levels in organizations. Examples of such work include
research examining the reforms of the NHS using a post-modern perspective
(Preston, 1992; Prestonet al., 1992) and that, taking a critical theory approach, of
Laughlin and Broadbent (1993) who examined the impact of attempts to control
particular organizations through the medium of the law. In a more general sense
the discontinuities of history and the diverse roots of control systems are brought
out by Miller and O’Leary (1987). Other work in this field has taken a more
interpretive or anthropological approach, examining the role of values or culture
in determining the extent to which it is possible to control organizational members.
Ansari and Bell (1991) illustrate the effect of national culture; Broadbent (1992)
and Dent (1991) focus in different ways on the impact of organizational cultures.
Overview
This retrospective review of the roots of management control provides the oppor-
tunity to reflect on its overall nature before moving forward to consider the
prospects for the subject. It is clear that there is a wide range of research into the
functioning of MCSs, even when its focus is narrowed to the more managerialist
approach which we have adopted. A rough categorization of MCSs research work
since 1965 set into this framework is given in Table 1 and allows some reflection
on the basic assumptions which underlie the work that has been undertaken.
As mentioned earlier, whilst the framework developed by Scott provides a
means by which to structure this review, it is important to note that every
paper reviewed does not fit tidily into such a sequence. Further, it is clear that
while practical theorists and scholars have developed ideas in new sectors of
the diagram, this has not led to the abandonment of work in earlier sectors. The
scientific management tradition is alive and well in areas such as operational
research and in the consultancy world (e.g. in business process reengineering).
The diversity of research approaches available is illustrated in the contents of the
textManagerial Control, Theories Issues and Practices(Berryet al., 1995) as well as
the special issue of theBritish Journal of Managementon MCSs published in 1993
Table 1 Representative papers from four perspectives
Closed system models Open system modelsRational models Natural models Rational models Natural models
Classical management Behavioural Systems and contingent Radical
theory approaches approaches perspectives
Classical theorists Argyris (1952) Ouchi (1979) Chuaet al.
Woodward (1958, Hopwood (1972, Beer (1972) (1989)
1965, 1970) 1974a, 1974b) Lowe and Machin Ansari and Bell
Burns and Stalker Vickers (1965, (1983) (1991)
(1961) 1967) Lowe and McInnes Dent (1991)
Drucker (1964) Otley and Berry (1971) Laughlin and
Simonet al.(1954) (1980) Otley (1980) Broadbent (1993)