The moderating role of leadership in the relationship between management control and business excellence

This study deals with the moderating role of leadership in the relationship between management control as part of total quality management (TQM) and business excellence in terms of purposive change. Data were collected via a survey filled out by managers working at 44 locations in the Correctional Services sector of the Correctional Institutions Agency (DJI) in the Netherlands. A total of 618 responses (83%) were obtained. Our hypothesis was derived from a conceptual model and tested using Pearson's r as an effect size index. The results show strong relations between the dimensions of management control and the styles of active leadership, on the one hand, and between the management control dimensions and business excellence in terms of purposive change, on the other hand. The results also indicate that transformational leadership is the most influential factor in the relationship between the management control construct and purposive change. It is concluded that organisations are strengthened by a management control system which is applied in combination with an intensive management communication approach in a context of transformational leadership. These findings have important implications for the further research on interventions in management control as part of TQM.