IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eurman/v39y2021i1p57-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Disentangling the effects of organizational controls on innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Turner, Karynne L.
  • Monti, Alberto
  • Annosi, Maria Carmela

Abstract

The strategy and innovation literatures argue that organizational competitiveness is contingent upon firms simultaneously pursuing both process and product innovations. A firm’s control system plays a fundamental role in this regard by managing, motivating, and coordinating employees’ behaviors for the development of its innovative capabilities. Research suggests that in order to develop successful innovation, management must use controls that align employees’ interests with those of the organization while simultaneously allowing employee autonomy to encourage creativity. These disparate functions lead to the control–autonomy dilemma. We argue that managers can address this dilemma by recognizing that the effect of controls on innovation outcomes depends, in part, on the controls’ enabling features and the type of commitment they inspire. Our findings show that employee development, which is the focus of input controls, has a direct effect on process innovation-related behaviors while specified goals, the emphasis of output controls, have a direct effect on product innovation-related behaviors. It is only through employees’ perceptions of managerial support that input controls increase product innovation-related behaviors and output controls increase process innovation-related behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Turner, Karynne L. & Monti, Alberto & Annosi, Maria Carmela, 2021. "Disentangling the effects of organizational controls on innovation," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 57-69.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:39:y:2021:i:1:p:57-69
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2020.09.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0263237320301304
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.emj.2020.09.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fariborz Damanpour & Shanthi Gopalakrishnan, 2001. "The Dynamics of the Adoption of Product and Process Innovations in Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 45-65, January.
    2. Ballot, Gérard & Fakhfakh, Fathi & Galia, Fabrice & Salter, Ammon, 2015. "The fateful triangle: Complementarities in performance between product, process and organizational innovation in France and the UK," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 217-232.
    3. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    4. Olivier Bertrand & Michael J. Mol, 2013. "The antecedents and innovation effects of domestic and offshore R&D outsourcing: The contingent impact of cognitive distance and absorptive capacity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(6), pages 751-760, June.
    5. Karynne L. Turner & Mona V. Makhija, 2012. "The role of individuals in the information processing perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 661-680, June.
    6. Yuan Li & Soo-Hoon Lee & Xiyao Li & Yi Liu, 2010. "Knowledge Codification, Exploitation, and Innovation: The Moderating Influence of Organizational Controls in Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 6(2), pages 219-241, July.
    7. Sumantra Ghoshal & Christopher A. Bartlett, 1994. "Linking organizational context and managerial action: The dimensions of quality of management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S2), pages 91-112, June.
    8. Crown, Deborah F. & Rosse, Joseph G., 1995. "Yours, Mine, and Ours: Facilitating Group Productivity through the Integration of Individual and Group Goals," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 138-150, November.
    9. Andrew H. Van de Ven, 1986. "Central Problems in the Management of Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(5), pages 590-607, May.
    10. Anita L. Tucker & Ingrid M. Nembhard & Amy C. Edmondson, 2007. "Implementing New Practices: An Empirical Study of Organizational Learning in Hospital Intensive Care Units," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(6), pages 894-907, June.
    11. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Nathan R. Furr & Christopher B. Bingham, 2010. "CROSSROADS---Microfoundations of Performance: Balancing Efficiency and Flexibility in Dynamic Environments," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(6), pages 1263-1273, December.
    12. Thrane, Sof & Blaabjerg, Steen & Møller, Rasmus Hannemann, 2010. "Innovative path dependence: Making sense of product and service innovation in path dependent innovation processes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 932-944, September.
    13. Caroline Flammer & Pratima Bansal, 2017. "Does a long-term orientation create value? Evidence from a regression discontinuity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(9), pages 1827-1847, September.
    14. Criscuolo, Chiara & Gal, Peter N. & Menon, Carlo, 2014. "The dynamics of employment growth: new evidence from 18 countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60286, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Zi-Lin He & Poh-Kam Wong, 2004. "Exploration vs. Exploitation: An Empirical Test of the Ambidexterity Hypothesis," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 481-494, August.
    16. Huergo, Elena, 2006. "The role of technological management as a source of innovation: Evidence from Spanish manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1377-1388, November.
    17. Poh‐Lin Yeoh & Kendall Roth, 1999. "An empirical analysis of sustained advantage in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry: impact of firm resources and capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(7), pages 637-653, July.
    18. Andrew C. Inkpen & Steven C. Currall, 2004. "The Coevolution of Trust, Control, and Learning in Joint Ventures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 586-599, October.
    19. Utterback, James M & Abernathy, William J, 1975. "A dynamic model of process and product innovation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 3(6), pages 639-656, December.
    20. Stansbury, Jason & Barry, Bruce, 2007. "Ethics Programs and the Paradox of Control," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 239-261, April.
    21. William G. Ouchi, 1979. "A Conceptual Framework for the Design of Organizational Control Mechanisms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(9), pages 833-848, September.
    22. Laura B. Cardinal & Sim B. Sitkin & Chris P. Long, 2004. "Balancing and Rebalancing in the Creation and Evolution of Organizational Control," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(4), pages 411-431, August.
    23. Nicholas S. Argyres & Brian S. Silverman, 2004. "R&D, organization structure, and the development of corporate technological knowledge," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8‐9), pages 929-958, August.
    24. Ad de Jong & Ko de Ruyter & Martin Wetzels, 2005. "Antecedents and Consequences of Group Potency: A Study of Self-Managing Service Teams," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(11), pages 1610-1625, November.
    25. Justin J. P. Jansen & Gerard George & Frans A. J. Van den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2008. "Senior Team Attributes and Organizational Ambidexterity: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 982-1007, July.
    26. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt, 1985. "Control: Organizational and Economic Approaches," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 134-149, February.
    27. Redmond, Matthew R. & Mumford, Michael D. & Teach, Richard, 1993. "Putting Creativity to Work: Effects of Leader Behavior on Subordinate Creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 120-151, June.
    28. Li, Yuan & Lee, Soo-Hoon & Li, Xiyao & Liu, Yi, 2010. "Knowledge Codification, Exploitation, and Innovation: The Moderating Influence of Organizational Controls in Chinese Firms," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 219-241, July.
    29. Markus Kreutzer & Jorge Walter & Laura B. Cardinal, 2015. "Organizational control as antidote to politics in the pursuit of strategic initiatives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9), pages 1317-1337, September.
    30. Masaaki Kotabe & Janet Y Murray, 1990. "Linking Product and Process Innovations and Modes of International Sourcing in Global Competition: A Case of Foreign Multinational Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 21(3), pages 383-408, September.
    31. Dorothy Leonard-Barton & Isabelle Deschamps, 1988. "Managerial Influence in the Implementation of New Technology," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(10), pages 1252-1265, October.
    32. Fariborz Damanpour & Richard M. Walker & Claudia N. Avellaneda, 2009. "Combinative Effects of Innovation Types and Organizational Performance: A Longitudinal Study of Service Organizations," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 650-675, June.
    33. Karen A. Bantel & Susan E. Jackson, 1989. "Top management and innovations in banking: Does the composition of the top team make a difference?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(S1), pages 107-124, June.
    34. Laurie J. Kirsch & Dong-Gil Ko & Mark H. Haney, 2010. "Investigating the Antecedents of Team-Based Clan Control: Adding Social Capital as a Predictor," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 469-489, April.
    35. Van de Ven, Andrew R., 1986. "Central Problems in the Management of Innovation," Agricultural Research Policy Seminar 139708, University of Minnesota Extension.
    36. Robert W. Zmud, 1982. "Diffusion of Modern Software Practices: Influence of Centralization and Formalization," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(12), pages 1421-1431, December.
    37. Billie Jo Zirger & Modesto A. Maidique, 1990. "A Model of New Product Development: An Empirical Test," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(7), pages 867-883, July.
    38. Laura B. Cardinal, 2001. "Technological Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry: The Use of Organizational Control in Managing Research and Development," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 19-36, February.
    39. Michael Lenox & Andrew King, 2004. "Prospects for developing absorptive capacity through internal information provision," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 331-345, April.
    40. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    41. Emmanuel Ogbonna & Barry Wilkinson, 2003. "The False Promise of Organizational Culture Change: A Case Study of Middle Managers in Grocery Retailing," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 1151-1178, July.
    42. Rebecca Henderson & Iain Cockburn, 1994. "Measuring Competence? Exploring Firm Effects in Pharmaceutical Research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 63-84, December.
    43. Ken Kusunoki & Ikujiro Nonaka & Akiya Nagata, 1998. "Organizational Capabilities in Product Development of Japanese Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Findings," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(6), pages 699-718, December.
    44. Kwaku Atuahene-Gima & Anthony Ko, 2001. "An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of Market Orientation and Entrepreneurship Orientation Alignment on Product Innovation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(1), pages 54-74, February.
    45. Peter W. Roberts & Raphael Amit, 2003. "The Dynamics of Innovative Activity and Competitive Advantage: The Case of Australian Retail Banking, 1981 to 1995," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 107-122, April.
    46. Kassotaki, Olga, 2019. "Explaining ambidextrous leadership in the aerospace and defense organizations," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 552-563.
    47. Bisbe, Josep & Otley, David, 2004. "The effects of the interactive use of management control systems on product innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 709-737, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Annosi, Maria Carmela & Appio, Francesco Paolo & Martini, Antonella, 2024. "Institutional context and agile team innovation: A sensemaking approach to collective knowledge creation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sébastien Brion & Caroline Mothe & Maréva Sabatier, 2010. "The Impact Of Organisational Context And Competences On Innovation Ambidexterity," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(02), pages 151-178.
    2. Lin, H.E., 2010. "Effects of strategy, context and antecedents and capabilities on the outcomes of ambidexterity : A multiple country case study of the US, China and Taiwan," Other publications TiSEM c0eab7d6-d6c7-4b55-9822-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Downes, Rebecca & Daellenbach, Urs & Donnelly, Noelle, 2023. "Remote control: Attitude monitoring and informal control in distributed teams," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    4. Rauter, Romana & Globocnik, Dietfried & Baumgartner, Rupert J., 2023. "The role of organizational controls to advance sustainability innovation performance," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Yang, Feifei & Shinkle, George A. & Goudsmit, Mirjam, 2022. "The efficacy of organizational control interactions: External environmental uncertainty as a critical contingency," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 855-868.
    6. Markus Kreutzer & Laura B. Cardinal & Jorge Walter & Christoph Lechner, 2016. "Formal and Informal Control as Complement or Substitute? The Role of the Task Environment," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(4), pages 235-255, December.
    7. Justin J. P. Jansen & Frans A. J. Van Den Bosch & Henk W. Volberda, 2006. "Exploratory Innovation, Exploitative Innovation, and Performance: Effects of Organizational Antecedents and Environmental Moderators," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(11), pages 1661-1674, November.
    8. Yu-Shan Su & Eric Tsang & Mike Peng, 2009. "How do internal capabilities and external partnerships affect innovativeness?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 309-331, June.
    9. Williams, Christopher & van Triest, Sander, 2009. "The impact of corporate and national cultures on decentralization in multinational corporations," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 156-167, April.
    10. Brion, Sébastien & Mothe, Caroline & Sabatier, Mareva, 2007. "What impacts more on innovation : Organizational context or individual competences ?," MPRA Paper 10595, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Koryak, Oksana & Lockett, Andy & Hayton, James & Nicolaou, Nicos & Mole, Kevin, 2018. "Disentangling the antecedents of ambidexterity: Exploration and exploitation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 413-427.
    12. Johnson, William H.A., 2011. "Managing university technology development using organizational control theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 842-852, July.
    13. Andreea N. Kiss & Dirk Libaers & Pamela S. Barr & Tang Wang & Miles A. Zachary, 2020. "CEO cognitive flexibility, information search, and organizational ambidexterity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(12), pages 2200-2233, December.
    14. Strobl, Andreas & Bauer, Florian & Matzler, Kurt, 2020. "The impact of industry-wide and target market environmental hostility on entrepreneurial leadership in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    15. Ewelina Zarzycka & Justyna Dobroszek & Lauri Lepistö & Sinikka Moilanen, 2019. "Coexistence of innovation and standardization: evidence from the lean environment of business process outsourcing," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 251-286, October.
    16. Bedford, David S. & Bisbe, Josep & Sweeney, Breda, 2019. "Performance measurement systems as generators of cognitive conflict in ambidextrous firms," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 21-37.
    17. Karl Aschenbrücker & Tobias Kretschmer, 2022. "Performance-based incentives and innovative activity in small firms: evidence from German manufacturing," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(2), pages 47-64, June.
    18. Yunhui Zhao & Zhimin Wang & Taiwen Feng & Ting Kong & Qiansong Zhang, 2022. "Organizational unlearning and inclusive innovation: The moderating role of green control ambidexterity," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 539-555, August.
    19. Sarooghi, Hessamoddin & Libaers, Dirk & Burkemper, Andrew, 2015. "Examining the relationship between creativity and innovation: A meta-analysis of organizational, cultural, and environmental factors," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 714-731.
    20. Gregory D. Moody & Laurie J. Kirsch & Sandra A. Slaughter & Brian Kimball Dunn & Qin Weng, 2016. "Facilitating the Transformational: An Exploration of Control in Cyberinfrastructure Projects and the Discovery of Field Control," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 324-346, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:39:y:2021:i:1:p:57-69. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/115/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.