Management Control and "Coherence": Some Unresolved Questions

This paper explores the varied meanings of, and theories about, "coherence" which are deployed in organizations. This reveals that over and above the diversity of well known approaches to "instrumental coherence", which focus mainly on organizational performance, little attention has been devoted to theories of "psychological coherence" which are actually crucial to the study of issues like the behavioural influence of management control systems, or the real role of the latter in organizational change.

BOURGUIGNON, A., JENKINS, A. and NØRREKLIT, H. (2003). Management Control and "Coherence": Some Unresolved Questions. 03018, ESSEC Business School.