Contrôle de gestion : Questions en suspens et perspectives de recherche

Abstract

Over the last three decades, the need for a better definition of central concepts in management control has been claimed repeatedly by several authors, since the lack of clarity in this matter is a crucial issue for the development and maturity of a robust theory of management control. Certainly, the diversity of theories and approaches has contributed to the understanding of this complex phenomenon, although these contributions could have been more beneficial if they had shared a common conceptual framework that would allow for a more objective and detailed approach. The aim of this article is to identify the basic concepts requiring a higher degree of consensus and find out whether recent contributions have brought more clarity on them. In addition, this paper seeks to explore and identify new opportunities for future research. After making a review of the literature, it is inferred that the conceptualization in the field of management control has achieved some degree of success at sharing the understanding of specific aspects, while at the same time has blurred the understanding of others. On the basis of this analysis, researchers on management control m ust agree on five fundamental concepts concerning this practice: the definition of management control, the theoretical approaches, the control mechanisms, the typological frameworks and finally the interrelations between elements of control. Several research paths are identified and proposed.