Introduction

Abstract

The great importance attached to problems of control in human (sociocultural) organizations is evident in the social science literature in general and, in particular, in the management-control systems literature (including management, organization theory, management systems and sciences, and accounting). Social scientists are preoccupied with studying how our knowledge of control can be improved and applied to achieve more efficient and effective results. Thus much of social science literature takes control, not as a phenomenon to be investigated, but as a sacrosanct topic to be theorized for. Control is the prized “model” contenders fight for. In “the court of justice,” control is never in the “dock.” It is the need to break this pervasive and biased silence “on” the very problematic nature of control itself that has motivated the writing of this book, the aim being to undertake a critical study of the problem of control from a perspective that embraces individual, organizational, and societal levels of analysis.