If managers feel safe, budget control becomes enabling. Evidence from a large local government organization in Sweden

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20201653
AutoresTobias Johansson (0000-0002-3922-578X, Mälardalen University), Gabriella Wennblom (0000-0003-3256-3097, Örebro University)
Año2023
Volumen35
Número6
Páginas154-179
Fecha de publicación2023-12-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Public Budgeting Accounting & Financial Management (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1096-3367 • E-ISSN: 1945-1814
EditorialEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/jpbafm-01-2023-0001
OpenAlexW4387505878
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas65

Purpose The authors study how enabling perceptions (flexibility, reparability and internal and global transparency) of a budgetary control system are formed, and whether enabling perceptions empower lower-level managers and make them form less negative attitudes about red tape in the organization. This study research is warranted because of the lack of knowledge on how perceptual variation in flexibility, repairability and transparency of a control system within an organization, where managers experiencing the same control system design, can be explained. Design/methodology/approach Survey data with answers from 211 managers from a large local government organization in Sweden is analyzed with structural equation modeling. Findings The extent to which the budget system is perceived as having enabling qualities (being flexible, reparable and transparent) is explained by the safeness of the individual manager's psychological climate. This climate is characterized by trust and fairness perceptions in upper management. In turn, enabling perceptions positively affect a sense of psychological empowerment and reduces attitudes toward red tape in the organization. Originality/value The authors contribute by identifying an important factor explaining individual-level variability in enabling perceptions of control systems within organizations. Compared to previous research that has taken an interest in the organizational-level climate, the authors theorize about and investigate (parts of) the individual-level psychological climate as an explanation of within-system variability

Business · Economic growth · Economics · Empowerment · Knowledge management · Management · Management control system · Originality · Perception · Political science · Public relations · Structural equation modeling · Accounting and Organizational Management · Computer Science · Organizational Leadership and Management Strategies · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research · Social Psychology