Sailing through turbulence: strategic control or strategic navigation?

Abstract

This paper proposes a performance management approach that deals with the organisational impact of environmental turbulence. The proposed approach expands the traditional concept of strategic control and could be used to guide the design of management accounting systems concerned with managing organisational performance. In the current organisational environment, where turbulence can be a prominent feature, traditional ideas of strategic control may be too restrictive and lack flexibility in helping organisations respond effectively to varying and capricious external circumstances. Strategic navigation as a performance management approach provides a basis for enhancing the relevance and usefulness of management accounting systems within organisations because it facilitates a focus on managing performance rather than controlling performance and explicitly incorporates flexible and organic control elements.