Effects of the enabling characteristics of budgetary control

This study evaluates the effects of the enabling characteristics of budgetary control on managerial performance and budget goal commitment. The findings contribute to the literature by addressing an important theoretical gap concerning the specific effects of enabling characteristics of budgetary control on managers' commitment to established budgetary targets and their consequent effects on managerial performance, while revealing how such practices influence these managerial attitudes. The enabling budgetary approach provides managers with greater flexibility and autonomy in organizational processes; therefore, it is relevant to understand how these characteristics influence attitudes related to managers' commitment to established budgetary targets and the consequences for their performance. The results indicate that this does not occur uniformly, which provides an explanation to the field of study and reveals that the enabling approach enhances the acceptance of and commitment by managers with budgetary responsibility to organizational objectives, targets, and desired results. Managers with higher budget goal commitment are more likely to elevate their managerial performance. The findings indicate the conditions under which the adoption of such budgetary control structures positively reflects on budget goal commitment and managerial performance. This is a descriptive, survey-based (single entity survey) quantitative study conducted with 91 middle-level managers with budgetary responsibility. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results add new evidence on the enabling characteristics of budgetary control, reveal that flexibility in the budgetary process has positive effects on achieving higher levels of managerial performance, and indicate that internal transparency acts by promoting managers' commitment to reaching budgetary targets, which positively reflects on managerial performance. The findings also suggest that individuals in positions closer to senior management are more likely to perceive the enabling characteristics, and that the level of budget use for performance evaluation enhances budget goal commitment.

Keywords:
budget; enabling budgetary control; managerial performance; budget goal commitment