A case study of management control in a Bangladeshi jute mill

What is it about?

The study based on intensive case research reveals that despite technically sound controls these tend to be used for legitimation rather than managerial decision making, i.e. they are decoupled. The reasons are that actual control often lies with politicians, often in allegiance with trade unions. Thus managers either cope by ad hoc concessions or rule-bound behaviour or manipulating data.

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Why is it important?

The research indicates that in many state-owned enterprises, especially in developing countries, the adoption of sound conventional controls does not mean that they will be used for the purposes intended, especially if the enterprises are subject to major and recurring political interventions for the purpose of patronage.