Our results indicate that both views are used in practice, though we find that technologies and practices are associated with quite different patterns of control. Product tracking technologies' are associated with a top-down, managerial command and control approach which is best explained by agency theory supplemented with a recognition of the social implications of performance measurement which provide a basis for peer pressure. Control is not a unitary concept. A large body of research has examined when different types of control are appropriate. Task measurability is a key variable determining the type of controls to be used in various theories of organizational control.
Ritual control is used when both are problematic.
It is implemented by selecting and socializing individuals so that their propensity to act against the interests of the organization is reduced. It also predicts that IT will be purchased to the extent that improved measurement of production work, when directly linked to compensation, reduces agency costs. So long as the reduced agency costs exceed the cost of the IT, total costs are minimized. A limitation of agency theory is that it assumes that individuals are motivated only by pay-based incentives. A substantial amount of research has been done on more team-oriented, participative modes of control.