The information technology project control literature has documented that clan control is often essential in complex multistakeholder projects for project success. However, instituting clan control in such conditions is challenging as people come to a project with diverse skills and backgrounds. There is often insufficient time for clan control to develop naturally. This paper investigates the question, "How can clan control be enactedin complex IT projects?" Recognizing social capital as a resource, we conceptualize a clan as a group with strong social capital (i.e., where its members have developed their structural, cognitive, and relational ties to the point that they share common values and beliefs and are committed to a set of peer norms). We theorize that the enactment of clan control is a dual process of (1) building the clan by developing its social capital dimensions (structural, cognitive, and relational ties) or reappropriating social capital from elsewhere and(2) leveraging the clan by reinforcing project-facilitating shared values, beliefs, and norms, and inhibiting those that impede the achievement of project goals. We explore how clan control was enacted in a large ITproject at a major logistics organization in which clan control was quickly instituted to avoid an impending project failure. Our research contributes to theory in three ways: (1) we reconcile the two differing views of clan control into a single framework, (2) we explain the role of controllers in enacting clan control, and (3) we clarify how formal control can be employed to develop clan control.
While much publicity and hype surrounds business process reengineering, little attention has been paid to consequential management issues such as compression of responsibilities and the reduction of checks and controls. Redesigned processes require a corresponding alignment in organizational control to sustain reengineering effectiveness. Inadequate attention to these issues can expose reengineered systems to excessive risks or produce reengineering attempts that are prematurely self-defeating as they contradict the underlying control philosophy. This paper addresses the question of whether traditional management controls have been eliminated, compromised, or rendered irrelevant amid such dynamic organizational changes, and, if so, how the management control function in a reengineered organization evolves. This question was explored through an intensive case study of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. The analysis suggests a restructuring of control dependency through automation and cooperation with external agencies, a shift in management practices toward more refined segmentation of control practices and greater leverage on back-end control, and increased reliance on outcome control. The challenge of ensuring proper implementation of such controls, given the deep-rooted traditional control culture, is not trivial. Implications and suggestions for assessing the risks and benefits of organizational control are discussed.