Because of conflicting incentives among participants, collaborations (e.g., strategic alliances, joint ventures, and work teams) present a significant control challenge to managerial accountants. On the one hand, formal controls such as sanctioning and monitoring systems improve cooperation by reducing the incentives for opportunistic behavior. On the other hand, prior research finds that the mere presence of a control system causes decision makers to view the collaborative setting as noncooperative, and other collaborators as untrustworthy. In this paper, we conduct two experiments in which participants act as business collaborators. Through these experiments, we examine the effects of control on trust and cooperation in collaborative settings. Specifically, we posit and provide evidence that a strong control system can enhance the level of trust among collaborators. The mediating role of control‐induced cooperation provides the mechanism by which control systems can increase trust in collaborative environments. Furthermore, we show that this increased trust has a positive effect on the subsequent level of cooperation among collaborators. Taken together, the results suggest an increasing marginal benefit of control system strength arising from the trust that control‐induced cooperation engenders. The implication is that firms will choose to implement a stronger control system than previous research would seem to suggest.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
1 April 2005
Research Article|
April 01 2005
The Effect of Control Systems on Trust and Cooperation in Collaborative Environments
Angela L. Coletti;
Angela L. Coletti
aThe University of Texas at Austin.
Search for other works by this author on:
Karen L. Sedatole;
Karen L. Sedatole
bThe University of Texas at Austin.
Search for other works by this author on:
Kristy L. Towry
Kristy L. Towry
cEmory University.
Search for other works by this author on:
Online ISSN: 1558-7967
Print ISSN: 0001-4826
American Accounting Association
2005
The Accounting Review (2005) 80 (2): 477–500.
Citation
Angela L. Coletti, Karen L. Sedatole, Kristy L. Towry; The Effect of Control Systems on Trust and Cooperation in Collaborative Environments. The Accounting Review 1 April 2005; 80 (2): 477–500. https://doi.org/10.2308/accr.2005.80.2.477
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$25.00