An investigation of organizational control in design consulting projects : behavioural consequences and motivational mechanisms

Abstract

Design quality has been proven to significantly influence project performance and end-users’ quality of life. A crucial aspect to ensure design quality is the governance of principal-agent relationships, as inter- and intra-organizational principal-agent relationships form the backbone of design consulting projects. Organizational control has been widely used to govern principal-agent relationships. Control effectiveness, however, remains a controversial issue due to conflicting theoretical perspectives and ambivalent empirical evidence. Also, it remains unknown if control is effective in design consulting projects with a concern about the possible incompatibility between the use of organizational control and characteristics of design consulting projects. Therefore, this study seeks to fill the knowledge gap by investigating the effectiveness of organizational control in design consulting projects.

A two-pronged research plan was employed to examine the behavioural consequences and motivational mechanisms of organizational control. Preliminary qualitative research containing 17 semi-structured interviews was initially conducted to validate the conceptualization of key constructs (i.e., organizational control, design behaviour) in design consulting projects. It provided empirical evidence for inter- and intra-organizational controls and design behaviours in the research setting (research objectives 1-2). Self-determination Theory (SDT) provides a theoretical framework to integrate organizational control, design behaviours, and work motivation, into a conceptual model to examine their interrelationships. This relies on a questionnaire survey with 222 valid responses from designers working in the Hong Kong AEC industry. The questionnaire data was processed by a combination of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), Multigroup Analysis (MGA), and moderated mediation analysis, to test hypothesized relationships (research objectives 3-5).

The results show that the conceptual control dimensions (i.e., output, process, and social control modes; coercive and enabling control styles) are all adopted in both inter- and intra-organizational controls in design consulting projects, with various control activities. Designers may behave differently in serving project clients, such as performing in-role, extra-role, and creative behaviours. Besides, organizational control modes have varying behavioural consequences and motivational mechanisms. First, formal control has both intended effects and undesired consequences. While intra-organizational output control displays disciplining effects on designers’ in-role and extra-role behaviours, intra-organizational process control crowds out designers’ in-role behaviours. Second, both inter- and intra-organizational social controls give rise to desirable design behaviours, partially or fully through stimulating autonomous motivation. Third, different groups of respondents (i.e., architects versus engineers, managers versus non-managerial designers) may respond differently to organizational control. Last, control style moderates the indirect effects of social control on design behaviours through autonomous motivation.

This study extends the theoretical underpinning of organizational control research by adopting a social psychological theory (i.e., SDT). It advances the understanding of control effectiveness in design consulting projects by disentangling the behavioural consequences and motivational mechanisms of organizational control, as well as the moderating role of control styles. This study also enlightens practitioners on how to properly arrange organizational control to facilitate desirable design behaviours in design consulting projects.