IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v62y2022i4p4587-4614.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The mediating role of accounting controls between supervisors' empowering leadership style and subordinates' creativity and goal productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Christina Boedker
  • Kar Ming Chong

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of subordinates' use of accounting controls on their job performance in circumstances where their supervisor adopts an empowering leadership style. We surveyed 98 Australian managers in the disability and manufacturing industries. The results show that diagnostic and scanning use mediate the relationship between supervisors' empowering leadership style and subordinates' creativity and goal productivity. When supervisors engage in empowering behaviours, subordinates are more likely to draw on accounting controls to cope with the greater information demands and job ambiguity inherent to such a leadership style. Furthermore, scanning use increases creativity whilst diagnostic use reduces creativity.

Suggested Citation

  • Christina Boedker & Kar Ming Chong, 2022. "The mediating role of accounting controls between supervisors' empowering leadership style and subordinates' creativity and goal productivity," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4587-4614, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:62:y:2022:i:4:p:4587-4614
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.13009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.13009
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.13009?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adler, Paul S. & Chen, Clara Xiaoling, 2011. "Combining creativity and control: Understanding individual motivation in large-scale collaborative creativity," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 63-85, February.
    2. Mundy, Julia, 2010. "Creating dynamic tensions through a balanced use of management control systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 499-523, July.
    3. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Simons, Robert, 1990. "The role of management control systems in creating competitive advantage: New perspectives," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 127-143.
    5. Carly Moulang & Steven Cahan, 2015. "Performance measurement system use in generating psychological empowerment and individual creativity," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(2), pages 519-544, June.
    6. Antonio Davila & George Foster & Daniel Oyon, 2009. "Accounting and Control, Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Venturing into New Research Opportunities," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 281-311.
    7. Simons, Robert, 1987. "Accounting control systems and business strategy: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 357-374, June.
    8. John Hulland, 1999. "Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 195-204, February.
    9. Zhang, Xiaomeng & Zhou, Jing, 2014. "Empowering leadership, uncertainty avoidance, trust, and employee creativity: Interaction effects and a mediating mechanism," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 150-164.
    10. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    11. Bisbe, Josep & Batista-Foguet, Joan-Manuel & Chenhall, Robert, 2007. "Defining management accounting constructs: A methodological note on the risks of conceptual misspecification," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 789-820.
    12. Wouters, Marc & Wilderom, Celeste, 2008. "Developing performance-measurement systems as enabling formalization: A longitudinal field study of a logistics department," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 488-516.
    13. Jarvis, Cheryl Burke & MacKenzie, Scott B & Podsakoff, Philip M, 2003. "A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 199-218, September.
    14. Hall, Matthew, 2016. "Realising the richness of psychology theory in contingency-based management accounting research," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64960, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Hall, Matthew, 2010. "Accounting information and managerial work," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 28539, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Grabner, Isabella & Speckbacher, Gerhard, 2016. "The cost of creativity: A control perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 31-42.
    17. Aleda V. Roth & William E. Jackson, III, 1995. "Strategic Determinants of Service Quality and Performance: Evidence from the Banking Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(11), pages 1720-1733, November.
    18. Hall, Matthew, 2010. "Accounting information and managerial work," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 301-315, April.
    19. Widener, Sally K., 2007. "An empirical analysis of the levers of control framework," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 757-788.
    20. Ranjith Appuhami, 2019. "Exploring the relationship between strategic performance measurement systems and managers' creativity: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and organisational learning," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(4), pages 2201-2233, December.
    21. Frank Hartmann & David Naranjo-Gil & Paolo Perego, 2010. "The Effects of Leadership Styles and Use of Performance Measures on Managerial Work-Related Attitudes," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 275-310.
    22. Bedford, David S. & Speklé, Roland F. & Widener, Sally K., 2022. "Budgeting and employee stress in times of crisis: Evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    23. Henri, Jean-Francois, 2006. "Management control systems and strategy: A resource-based perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 529-558, August.
    24. Müller-Stewens, Benedikt & Widener, Sally K. & Möller, Klaus & Steinmann, Jan-Christoph, 2020. "The role of diagnostic and interactive control uses in innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    25. Nitzl, Christian, 2016. "The use of partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in management accounting research: Directions for future theory development," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 19-35.
    26. Marginson, David & Ogden, Stuart, 2005. "Coping with ambiguity through the budget: the positive effects of budgetary targets on managers' budgeting behaviours," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 435-456, July.
    27. 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.
    28. Christian Nitzl, 2016. "The use of partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in management accounting research: Directions for future theory development," Journal of Accounting Literature, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(1), pages 19-35, October.
    29. repec:eme:jal000:j.acclit.2016.09.003 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. 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.
    31. Hall, Matthew, 2008. "The effect of comprehensive performance measurement systems on role clarity, psychological empowerment and managerial performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(2-3), pages 141-163.
    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. Ranjith Appuhami & Faruk Bhuiyan & Christina Boedker, 2024. "Navigating frugality and creativity urgencies: the role of diagnostic use of budgets and goal clarity," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 235-264, June.

    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. Ranjith Appuhami & Faruk Bhuiyan & Christina Boedker, 2024. "Navigating frugality and creativity urgencies: the role of diagnostic use of budgets and goal clarity," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 235-264, June.
    2. Habib Mahama & Zhichao (Alex) Wang, 2023. "Impact of the interactive and diagnostic uses of performance measurement systems on procedural fairness perception, cooperation and performance in supply alliances," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3253-3296, September.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Chenhall, Robert H. & Moers, Frank, 2015. "The role of innovation in the evolution of management accounting and its integration into management control," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Emer Curtis & Breda Sweeney, 2017. "Managing different types of innovation: mutually reinforcing management control systems and the generation of dynamic tension," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(3), pages 313-343, April.
    7. Bisbe, Josep & Kruis, Anne-Marie & Madini, Paola, 2019. "Coercive, enabling, diagnostic, and interactive control: Untangling the threads of their connections," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 124-144.
    8. Sebastian Goebel & Barbara E. Weißenberger, 2017. "Effects of management control mechanisms: towards a more comprehensive analysis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 185-219, February.
    9. Bedford, David S. & Malmi, Teemu & Sandelin, Mikko, 2016. "Management control effectiveness and strategy: An empirical analysis of packages and systems," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 12-28.
    10. Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu & Kevin Baird & Sophia Su, 2023. "The impact of interactive and diagnostic levers of eco‐control on eco‐innovation: The mediating role of employee environmental citizenship behaviour," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2245-2271, June.
    11. Lill, Philipp A. & Wald, Andreas, 2021. "The agility-control-nexus: A levers of control approach on the consequences of agility in innovation projects," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. Müller-Stewens, Benedikt & Widener, Sally K. & Möller, Klaus & Steinmann, Jan-Christoph, 2020. "The role of diagnostic and interactive control uses in innovation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    13. Belete J. Bobe & Ralph Kober, 2020. "Does gender matter? The association between gender and the use of management control systems and performance measures," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 2063-2098, September.
    14. Nuraddeen Abubakar Nuhu & Kevin Baird & Sophia Su, 2022. "The association between the interactive and diagnostic use of financial and non-financial performance measures with individual creativity: The mediating role of perceived fairness," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 371-402, September.
    15. James T. Mackey & F. Johnny Deng, 2016. "Examining the Role of Management Control Systems in the Creation of an Innovative Culture," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(03), pages 1-27, June.
    16. Peters, Matt D. & Wieder, Bernhard & Sutton, Steve G. & Wakefield, James, 2016. "Business intelligence systems use in performance measurement capabilities: Implications for enhanced competitive advantage," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 1-17.
    17. Bellora-Bienengräber, Lucia & Derfuss, Klaus & Endrikat, Jan, 2023. "Taking stock of research on the levers of control with meta-analytic methods: Stylized facts and boundary conditions," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    18. Journeault, Marc & De Rongé, Yves & Henri, Jean-François, 2016. "Levers of eco-control and competitive environmental strategy," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 316-340.
    19. Sophia Su & Kevin Baird & Amy Tung, 2022. "Controls and performance: assessing the mediating role of creativity and collegiality," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 449-482, December.
    20. Stefan Hofmann & Andreas Wald & Ronald Gleich, 2012. "Determinants and effects of the diagnostic and interactive use of control systems: an empirical analysis on the use of budgets," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 153-182, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:acctfi:v:62:y:2022:i:4:p:4587-4614. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    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.