Design of management control systems : a study of joint stock companies in Croatia

This paper examines the issues related to the definition, concept and design of management control systems (MCS). Lack of knowledge about the development and design of MCS, and the need for systematic empirical research in this thematic area, are the main motivations for this research. This study seeks to explain the MCS within a Croatian context and it is one of few research studies conducted in the field of MCS in Croatia. In this research we used the concept of MCS that represents a combination of various cybernetic, administrative and cultural controls, as well as reward and compensation controls, with related techniques. This observation of MCS is wider and the strength of the typology lies in the broad scope of the controls in the MCS as a package, rather than the depth of its discussion as individual systems. The research adopted a survey methodology. Data were collected from 40 joint stock companies in Croatia using a post questionnaire. Final results suggest that joint stock companies in Croatia use more administrative and cybernetic controls than the reward and compensation controls and cultural controls as a part of MCS.