Logics, complexities and paradoxical tensions: management controls in a clustered firm

Abstract

Purpose – This paper explores how management controls of a clustered apparel firm in Sri Lanka (Stitch-It) is shaped by institutional field and societal logics, firm’s head office prescriptions, clusters’ own attributes and strategic behavior of cluster managers. Design/methodology/approach – It follows the research philosophy of interpretivism and embedded case study approach within the qualitative research design, while institutional complexity within the institutional logics perspective and paradoxical tensions, organizational attributes and strategic responses to institutional processes provide the theoretical underpinning. Findings – The findings suggest that market, profession and state logics in the apparel field, alongside community logic at the societal level, develop a state of complexity in Stitch-It and its clusters. At the cluster level, such complexity is further intensified by head office guidelines (on controls), which gets filtered by the organizational attributes of the particular clusters. At this state, paradoxical tensions are developed within clusters, and to mitigate such tensions, key organizational members employ different strategies, which in turn shape management controls of the clusters. Practical implications – This paper highlights that practicing managers need to be mindful of different logics in the field, organizational attributes, resulting tensions, complexities, strategies to deal with them and their ramifications on controls. Originality/value – The paper asserts that management controls is a dynamic and a situational phenomenon, which continuously evolves in light of organizational attributes, multiple logics and head office prescriptions. It conceptualizes the “tensions” evident in the design and implementation of management controls, arising due to multiplicity of pressures as “paradoxical tensions.” Although important and relevant to management control arena, “paradoxical tensions” has been scantly explored by prior researchers.