Management control systems, strategy implementation and capabilities development in university academic units: impacts on performance
Creators: name: Bobe, Belete
Publisher: name: RMIT University
Year: 2024

description: There has recently been a small but growing stream of MCS research investigating the MCS-strategy link from the resource-based view (RBV) perspective. There have also been studies independently focusing on the role of MCS use in supporting strategy implementation. However, there is limited research that has integrated the RBV of strategy with the literature on the use of performance measures (PMs) and, more broadly, management control systems. <br><br>Against the above background, the primary research question guiding this thesis is: In the context of the adoption of managerialism doctrines in collegial traditions in university academic units, how does a Head’s emphasis on KPIs, style of MCS use and strategy implementation orientations impact on the development of the unit’s capabilities and, in turn, the unit’s organisational performance outcomes? To answer the above primary research question, six secondary questions are formulated which are then developed into fifteen testable hypotheses. <br><br>To test these hypotheses, a mail survey method is used to collect data from a sample of 679 Heads in all 39 Australian universities. There were 166 usable responses obtained, giving a 24.5% response rate. For the data analysis, partial least square (PLS) analyses are employed, supplemented by descriptive, correlation and principal components factor analyses. <br><br>This thesis provides several key findings. First, the extent of emphasis Heads place on KPIs through an inferred acceptance of managerialism and its reification of KPIs, is not, directly or indirectly, related to the metrics-based performance outcomes of the school, although it is positively related to both the diagnostic style of MCS use and efficiency focus strategy implementation which are the hallmarks of managerialism. Second, strategy implementation which is oriented primarily to gaining efficiency does not support the development of academic schools’ research, teaching or network capabilities. On the other hand, strategy implementation which is oriented primarily to enhancing flexibility does support the development of academic schools’ capabilities. Third, an interactive use of MCS (a proxy for collegialism) is positively associated with a flexibility strategy implementation orientation and is also indirectly positively related to overall school performance mediated through flexibility strategy implementation and organisational capabilities. Fourth, the extent of development of core academic capabilities is positively related to overall school performance. <br><br>The main conclusion from the findings of the thesis is that managerialism has become entrenched but has not fully displaced collegialism as expressed in the form of interactive use of MCS and flexibility in strategy implementations. The findings have practical implications for university management in terms of the over-emphasis on KPIs driven by managerialism, the need for maintaining collegialism and the significance of the development of core organisational capabilities for achieving greater overall school performance. <br><br>The theoretical contribution to management accounting research is the integration of the relationships between MCS use, strategy implementation, capabilities development and organisational performance into one model. Further, the inclusion of the perspective of a managerial ethos, incited because of this study’s organisational context, is a likely tension between managerialism doctrines and collegialism traditions, and is new to MCS research. <br>