Exploring the tensions within and among management control elements from a paradox perspective

This study examines the inner tensions within MC elements, as well as how these inner tensions influence the tensions among MC elements. To accomplish this, we draw on a qualitative case study of an international organisation, focusing on a newly acquired division and the new MC elements implanted during the integration process. By mobilising concepts from paradox theory and ideas concerning the interdependency of management control (MC) elements to analyse our data, we are able to explain that MC elements can embed various paradoxical tensions, which are interwoven, resulting in various cross-level competing or complementary effects among the MC elements. In this way, we provide a new theoretical explanation for the emergence of dynamic tensions among MC elements. Moreover, we determine that MC elements can render the opposing poles of a paradoxical tension recognisable and, therefore, manageable for actors. Thus, our results elucidate the role that MC elements can play in managing tensions within organisations.