Title: The relationship between the use of strategic human capital, the design of the Management Control System and organisational performance: an empirical study in the Greek context

Authors: Nikolaos G. Theriou, Zeljko Sevic, Dimitrios I. Maditinos, Georgios N. Theriou

Addresses: Kavala Institute of Technology, Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Economics, Agios Loukas 654 04, Kavala, Greece. ' Division of Accounting, Finance and Risk, Caledonian Business School, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow G4 0BA, UK. ' Kavala Institute of Technology, Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Economics, Agios Loukas 65404, Kavala, Greece. ' Kavala Institute of Technology, Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Economics, Agios Loukas 65404, Kavala, Greece

Abstract: This study examines, within the context of Greece, the relationship between the four attributes (importance, behavioural uncertainty, firm specificity and spread) of Strategic Human Capital (SHC), the design/use of Management Control Systems (MCSs) and organisational performance. It utilises both Transaction Cost Economics (TCS) and contingency theory to develop the theoretical background of the study, since both analyse the function of management control. This study extends the model of Widener (2004) a step further by incorporating organisational performance. It supports the proposed model of Widener, by verifying the positive influence of the four components of SHC to the personnel controls and non-traditional results controls and their negative influence on the use of traditional results controls.

Keywords: SHC; strategic human capital; MCS; management control systems; organisational performance; SEM; structural equation modelling; Greece; transaction cost economics; TCS; contingency theory; emerging economies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEPEE.2009.030574

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, 2009 Vol.2 No.3, pp.202 - 227

Published online: 24 Dec 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article