Crossed views on the need for a management control system and the new managerial culture: an exploratory study in Moroccan public administrations

Abstract

This article explores the management control system in the context of the New Public Management initiatives. These initiatives have led to changes in the structure and functioning of public sector organizations in order to make them work better. A qualitative research methodology is applied, in particular with 9 managers through individual semi-directive interviews to obtain a better understanding of our phenomenon. To do this, we have advocated a contingency approach on the determinants of the management control system. This study proves that the Administration is always in search of improvement and that a mobilization of the decision-makers is to be undertaken. Thus, the success (or failure) of the New Public Management (NPM) reforms depends, in large part, on the administrative, political and strategic context in which these reforms take place.

The results obtained allowed us to understand that the implementation of the management control system is still an urgent need for Moroccan public administrations in order to follow the transformation movement launched by the Kingdom. One of the main limitations of this study is related to the difficulty of accessing secondary data and the field, since our research theme focused on the public sphere. However, we encountered tremendous reluctance on the part of collaborators. Although experimental, our exploratory qualitative study requires additional confirmatory quantitative study to determine, verify, and generalize our theoretical findings. At the same time, we should have taken more than two Administrations, but we were unable to meet this desired standard.

JEL classification: H83

Paper Type: Empirical Research