The Roles of Management Control: Lessons from the Apollo Program*
通过分析阿波罗计划的档案和访谈数据，研究管理控制在决策中的两种角色（影响行为和辅助决策）如何单独及共同发挥作用，并提出一个2×2矩阵来更清晰地描述这些角色。
ABSTRACT The management control information used in decision‐making comports with one of the two generally accepted roles—to monitor and evaluate employees to conform their behavior to achieving organizational goals (decision‐influencing role), or to reduce decision uncertainty (decision‐facilitating role). However, the ways in which these two roles may combine concurrently has received limited empirical attention. Thus, in this case study, archival data and evidence from 30 interviews with space sector experts are employed to evaluate how the two roles assumed by management control contributed—both individually and jointly—to the achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Apollo program. The analysis leads to a proposed 2×2 matrix that better characterizes the roles that could be assumed by management control in decision settings. This study extends the management control literature by presenting an additionally nuanced picture of these roles, as well as the subsequent consequences that arise from their combinations. Its findings provide insight for management control development and application.