Understanding the theory and practice of management control

Knights, David and Roberts, John (1983) Understanding the theory and practice of management control. Employee Relations, 5 (4). pp. 1-43. ISSN 0142-5455

Abstract

The central concern of this monograph is to generate an understanding of the processes of control in industrial relations. Traditionally, the literature has tended to merely reflect the instrumental interests of management and has thus been preoccupied with the problem of improving the techniques, rather than penetrating the social processes of control. The authors contend that this preoccupation has resulted in a neglect of examining the conditions and consequences of control for production.