Os sistemas de controle gerencial como reforçadores do comprometimento organizacional à luz do Behaviorismo radical de Skiner

Abstract

The investigated theme focused on the line of management accounting and control in organizations. The objective was to evaluate whether management control systems - MCS, can act as reinforcers of organizational commitment in the light of Skinner's radical behaviorism. To meet the research objective, an experiment was carried out with students from undergraduate courses in accounting sciences and from postgraduate lato and stricto sensu in the accounting area of brazilian universities and colleges. The management control systems package model proposed by Malmi and Brown (2008) was used. The results of the research confirmed the organizational commitment model of Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993), formed by the affective, instrumental and normative commitment. The results showed that the willingness to maintain affective and normative commitment increases when the manager identifies with the organization through cultural controls, but the same does not occur when it comes to instrumental commitment. It was found that the willingness to maintain organizational commitment increases when the organization integrates the manager in the planning, has a feedback mechanism and a reward system. In addition, the willingness to maintain organizational commitment increases when the organization's policies and procedures are clearly defined through training. It was also identified that the willingness to maintain organizational commitment increases when the organization has a package of management control systems. And the instrument’s reliability was also proven, given that the respondents' personal characteristics did not affect their willingness to maintain organizational commitment. There is a gap in the literature on management control systems and organizational commitment, which has limited the types of control studied and the dimensions of organizational commitment, which was possible to contemplate in the study due to its experimental character and the perspective of a theory of psychology. The research contributes by showing how organizations can change the management controls used so that they act as reinforcers of organizational commitment. Furthermore, there is a theoretical contribution for Skinner's radical behaviorism and also for the management accounting literature.