Good for business: towards a management control research agenda relating to the employment of workers with intellectual disability

Purpose The paper presents the initial groundwork for the development of a research agenda around the management control implications of employing workers with intellectual disability. Design/methodology/approach The point of departure of this foundational enquiry is primarily prior analyses and critiques of empirical research into the employment of workers with intellectual disabilities. Findings The authors extend the management control framework advanced by Tessier and Otley (2012) by offering insights relating to the benefits and costs of both compliance as well as performance roles of management control systems (MCS). As such, the authors advocate potential avenues for further empirical investigation and also offer four broad ways in which the use of MCS is implicated in the employment of individuals with an intellectual disability by recognising that achieving compliance outcomes or achieving performance outcomes both carry associated benefits and costs. Research limitations/implications The extent to which management control research has engaged with the context of workers with intellectual disability is limited. However, this paper identifies some of the salient considerations underlying an agenda for further research in this area. Social implications The employment of workers with intellectual disabilities is by no means unprecedented. In many Western economies, there have in recent times been significant disability policy shifts, recognising the key role of employment in the financial security and social participation of people with disabilities, including those with intellectual disabilities. A key performance indicator stated in these policy positions is an increase in workforce participation for this group of people. However, an increase in the employment of such individuals is likely to represent significant implications in terms of prevailing conditions as well as new management control configurations that may be required. Originality/value The paper overviews existing knowledge about the employment of workers living with an intellectual disability and identifies areas relating to the management control implications of such arrangements within which more research is required.