The Transmission of Control in Information Systems Projects

Control transmission represents a central problem in any type of organization. However, while prior research has extensively studied the factors influencing the choice of control modes as well as the effects and dynamics of control, the transmission of control from controller to controllee has been largely neglected in the project control literature. Our study addresses this gap by examining in-depth the transmission of control in a large IS project involving multiple control dyads. Our preliminary results suggest that outcome control transmits well through the entire project hierarchy (i.e., between senior managers and project managers as well as between project managers and project team members), while behavior control only transmits well between project managers and project team members