Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting

How to Mitigate the Loss of Creative Talent: a Multilevel Management Control Perspective

• In Event: Management Control (Mixed Methods)

Abstract

In this study, we explore the loss of creative talent and the role of management control in mitigating this problem. Given that for many companies the most important source of innovation lies in their own employees, it is crucial to retain creative employees and motivate them to unleash their creative potential to the benefit of the firm. We however argue that retaining creative talent is particularly difficult as the higher outside options of creative employees as well as their specific character traits make them, on average, more likely to leave their company. We then explore the role of management control practices in mitigating such talent loss. Taking a multi-level perspective on management control, we hypothesize that management control practices at the individual, team, supervisor, and organizational level influence creative employees’ likelihood to leave. Using our unique access to R&D employees and their supervisors of a large manufacturing firm, we find evidence that is largely consistent with our predictions. In a more exploratory analysis, we finally investigate the role of intrafirm incubator programs designed to keep creative talent in the firm. While we do not find that creative people per se are more likely to apply for such programs, we provide some evidence that management control practices influence creative employees’ intention to apply.

Authors

• Isabella Grabner, WU Vienna University

• Mischa Seiter, University of Ulm

• Markus Wabnegg, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business

• Henning Wirth, Zeppelin University