Employees’ perception of management control systems as a threat: effects on deliberate ignorance and workplace deviance

Accounting Forum, https://doi.org/10.1080/01559982.2022.2140500

52 Pages Posted: 20 May 2020 Last revised: 2 Dec 2022

See all articles by Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras

Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras

Universidade de Vigo

Jacobo Gomez-Conde

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - Accounting Department

David Naranjo-Gil

Pablo de Olavide University

Ricardo Malagueño

University of East Anglia (UEA)

Date Written: June 17, 2022

Abstract

We examine the impact of employees’ perceptions of management control systems (MCS) as a threat on two forms of misconduct: deliberate ignorance and workplace deviance. Drawing on the theory of cognitive dissonance, we predict that a perceived threat is associated with a decrease in workplace deviance but may also trigger unintended consequences, such as deliberate ignorance. Hypotheses are tested using survey data from three large hospitals. Taken together, our results suggest that employees’ perceptions of MCS as a threat have (1) a negative curvilinear effect on workplace deviance and (2) a positive linear association with deliberate ignorance. Additionally, we find that the need for professional autonomy shapes the effect of employees’ perception of MCS as a threat on both forms of misconduct. Overall, by providing new empirical evidence on how employees perceive MCS and their (un)intended consequences, we add to the growing body of research on the effects of control systems on employees’ behaviour.

Keywords: Perception of control; management control systems; misconduct; deliberate ignorance; workplace deviance; cognitive dissonance.

JEL Classification: M41

Suggested Citation

Lopez-Valeiras, Ernesto and Gomez-Conde, Jacobo and Naranjo-Gil, David and Malagueño, Ricardo, Employees’ perception of management control systems as a threat: effects on deliberate ignorance and workplace deviance (June 17, 2022). Accounting Forum, https://doi.org/10.1080/01559982.2022.2140500, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3583859 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3583859

Ernesto Lopez-Valeiras

Universidade de Vigo ( email )

Jacobo Gomez-Conde (Contact Author)

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid - Accounting Department ( email )

Campus de Cantoblanco
Madrid, Madrid 28049
Spain

David Naranjo-Gil

Pablo de Olavide University ( email )

Ctra. Utrera, Km.1
Sevilla, Seville 41010
Spain
+34954349847 (Phone)
+34954349339 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.upo.es

Ricardo Malagueño

University of East Anglia (UEA) ( email )

Norwich Research Park
Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom

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