RESEARCH IN MANAGEMENT CONTROL 275
which lead to overall goal specification and attainment. This can be seen primarily
as the planning and coordination function of management control. The other side
of the management control coin is its monitoring and feedback function. Regular
observations and reports on actual achievement are used to ensure that planned
actions are indeed achieving desired results.
It may be argued that Anthony’s approach is too restrictive in that it assumes
away important problems (seeLowe and Puxty, 1989 for further discussion of
these issues). The first problem is concerned with problems of defining strategies,
goals and objectives. Such procedures are typically complex and ill-defined, with
strategies being produced as much by accident as by design. It is clear that
Anthony was aware of the problems of ambiguity and uncertainty when he
located these issues in the domain of strategy, but he then avoided their further
consideration. The second problem concerns the methods used to control the
production (or service delivery) processes, which are highly dependent upon the
specific technology in use and which are widely divergent. Anthony conveniently
relegates these issues to the realm of operational control. Finally, his textbooks
concentrate upon planning and control through accounting rationales and contain
little or no discussion of social-psychological or behavioural issues, despite his
highlighting the importance of the latter. Anthony’s approach can, thus, be seen
as a preliminary ground-clearing exercise, whereby he limits the extent of the
problem he sets out to study. In a complex field this was probably a very sensible
first step, however, it greatly narrowed the scope of the topic.
A broader view of management control is suggested by Lowe (1971) in a more
comprehensive definition:
‘A system of organizational information seeking and gathering, accountabil-
ity and feedback designed to ensure that the enterprise adapts to changes in
its substantive environment and that the work behaviour of its employees is
measured by reference to a set of operational sub-goals (which conform with
overall objectives) so that the discrepancy between the two can be reconciled
and corrected for.’This stresses the role of a management control system (MCS) as a broad set
of control mechanisms designed to assist organizations to regulate themselves,
whereas Anthony’s definition is more specific and limited to a narrower sub-set
of control activities. Machin (1983) continues this line of thought in his critical
review of management control systems as a specialist subject of academic study.
He explores each of the terms ‘management’, ‘control’ and ‘system’, defining a
research focus:
‘Those formal, systematically developed, organization-wide, data-handling
systems which are designed to facilitate management control which ‘‘is
the process by which managers assure that resources are obtained and
used effectively and efficiently in the accomplishment of the organization’s
objectives.’’ ’Machin notes that such a definition has the merit of leaving scope for academics
to disagree violently whilst still perceiving themselves to be studying the same