مقاله انگلیسی بودجه بندی و استرس کارکنان در مواقع بحران
Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
Theoretical development
Research method
Analysis of results
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Appendix A. Questionnaire items
References
Abstract
Prior research has shown that that management control practices change in response to global crises, yet we have little understanding of the behavioral consequences of these changes. The purpose of this study is to explore the behavioral effects that stem from crisis-induced changes to management control practices and the factors that intensify or diminish these effects. Using survey data from business unit managers in the Netherlands, our results show that firms tighten their budget controls in response to a negative impact of Covid-19. In turn, the tightening of budget controls is positively associated with employees’ emotional exhaustion because of increased perceptions of role ambiguity and role conflict. We furthermore find that the effect of tighter budget controls on role ambiguity is mitigated when managers perceive that the budget controls are used in an enabling way prior to the crisis but heightened with increased trust in senior management. These results suggest that if firms use their budgets to help managers acquire a deeper understanding of their tasks and responsibilities, they are better able to respond to a negative shock and the accompanying tightening of budget controls, which helps mitigate the undesired behavioral response of increased role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion. Our findings also suggest that trust, which usually is beneficial to organizations, has a ‘dark’ side in that managers will push themselves harder to reciprocate the trust they have in their senior managers, which exacerbates the effect of tighter budget controls on role ambiguity and, in turn, emotional exhaustion.
Introduction
In answer to calls from prominent researchers (Hopwood, 2009; Van der Stede, 2011), several studies have shown that that management control (MC) practices change in response to global crises as firms attempt to manage the accompanying uncertainty and financial strain (Asel, Posch & Speckbacher, 2010; Becker, Mahlendorf, Schäffer & Thaten, 2016; Casas-Arce, Indjejikian & Matějka, 2020; Janke, Mahlendorf & Weber, 2014). A particularly common shortterm response is to centralize decision-making and to intensify control (Czarniawska-Joerges, 1988, Milburn, Schuler & Watman, 1983, Staw, Sandelands & Dutton, 1981). However, our knowledge of the behavioral effects of these responses remains limited (Van der Stede, 2011). The purpose of this study is to develop more comprehensive insights into the effects of intensifying control in response to a crisis. Focusing on the budget as a central component of the MC package of most firms, we examine the following research questions: How do firms change budget tightness in response to a global crisis and what are the implications for employee stress and emotional exhaustion? Moreover, under what conditions are those stressors either mitigated or exacerbated? The management and organization literatures define an organizational crisis as an event that “(1) threatens high-priority values of the organization, (2) presents a restricted amount of time in which a response can be made, and (3) is unexpected or unanticipated by the organization” (Hermann, 1963, p. 64).