‘This Is the End’? : An Ethnographic Study of Management Control and a New Management Initiative

McCabe, D. and Ciuk, S. and Gilbert, M. (2022) ‘This Is the End’? : An Ethnographic Study of Management Control and a New Management Initiative. Work, Employment and Society, 36 (3). pp. 503-521. ISSN 0950-0170

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Abstract

Over recent decades, critical scholars have quite rightly warned of the control implications of new management initiatives. There is a danger, however, of treating control in a ‘distal’ way or as an ‘end’. Through drawing on proximal theorising, we make explicit what is often implicit in such accounts, which is that control is best understood as unfinished, in process, for it is inherently contingent and unpredictable. Viewed in this way, control becomes elusive as it always has to be achieved. The article draws on ethnographic research conducted in a back office of a manufacturing organisation to illustrate this understanding of management control. It highlights tensions between staff and management and between multiple layers of management that can thwart control.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Work, Employment and Society
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1400/1407
Subjects:
?? distalmanufacturingnew management initiativeorganisational controlorganisational ethnographyproximalunintended consequencesorganizational behavior and human resource managementeconomics and econometricsaccountingsociology and political science ??
ID Code:
158508
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
17 Aug 2021 10:50
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
15 Jul 2024 21:50