Résumé (EN)

The taxonomy extends the distinction between diagnostic and interactive control systems by adding two new dimensions to the one introduced by Simons (1995) which focuses on the nature of the involvement of operational managers. The first new dimension concerns the degree of specificity of the information system used by the control system. The second dimension concerns the degree of objectivity of the incentive system that is associated with the control system. This three dimensional taxonomy provides an interesting framework to discuss the recurrent attempts to renovate management control that followed the severe criticism of Johnson and Kaplan (1987). In this framework, the balanced score card would be representative of interactive systems while the value creation approaches such as EVA would be of diagnostic systems. Strengths and weaknesses of each approaches may then be discussed as the potential benefit associated with a joint parallel approach.