For a couple of decades, the idea of normative control has been challenged for not paying due respect to employee self-determination, self-actualization, autonomy, integrity and freedom to make moral decisions. Despite well-articulated criticism, few scholars problematize the functionality and nature of normative control given varying employee perceptions of it. This article adopts a perspective where both employee consent and knowledge of aspects and components of normative control are taken into account. Through such an approach, four different states related to normative control are identified and discussed. By doing so, the article shifts focus from the recurrent obsession with the pros and cons of value alignment to the internal legitimacy of the person(s) exercising normative control and to employee knowledge of what normative control actually brings about.