Management control system design and employees’ autonomous motivation

Using an online survey of 468 U.S. employees from diverse industries and professions, we provide empirical evidence that management control system design choices can affect autonomous motivation in employees. Drawing on self-determination theory and the levers of control framework, we predict and find that employee autonomous motivation is positively associated with the use of beliefs control systems and interactive control systems and negatively associated with the use of diagnostic control systems. Moreover, we find that the joint use of diagnostic and interactive controls is positively associated with autonomous motivation. We also find a positive association between employees’ autonomous motivation and individual self-reported effort, job performance, and creativity. Additional analyses examine the sources of motivation behind these results, focusing on identified motivation. The theory and results of our study provide a potential explanation for the recent trend in practice of organizations increasingly emphasizing their values and higher purposes.