The study of performance management to date has paid limited attention to developing a holistic understanding of systems that span multiple organizations. We know a great deal about systems within single organizations and dyadic relationships between two firms, but the design, development and use of control systems that span multiple organizations as they come together to collaborate, innovate, create and distribute value, is an area in need of further investigation. This thesis has as its focus the study of such multi-organizational control systems, and in particular those that rely heavily on non-hierarchical, negotiated and collaborative methods of performance management, as opposed to the more contractual and market-based control relationships that might exist within a supply chain.
This thesis is presented in four distinct but interrelated parts:
Part A is the study of a single collaborative venture, investigating the underlying accountabilities that give control, and shape the direction of the project.
Part B studies a Joint Venture Organisation (‘JVO’), looking at control at both the level of the JVO itself, and the level of the ecosystem, being the group of organisations that it wishes to bring together and foster as a kind of scientific and business network.
Part C is a separate methodological contribution developing what is termed ‘Feedback Discourse Analysis’ – a novel method employed in this thesis and created as a tool that allows a new perspective on the development of theory through interpretive or interventionist research.
Part D presents a summarised set of conclusions from the thesis, highlights limitations, and suggests areas for further work.