To Örebro University

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it provides a systematic review of the expanding accounting literature which uses self-determination theory (SDT) to better understand how and why results controls (i.e. the measurement, target-setting, follow-up, and rewarding of employee work performance) can foster different types of employee motivation and the outcome effects thereof. Second, based on the identified achievements and weaknesses of this literature, it proposes an agenda for future scholarly effort.

Design/methodology/approach: The present study conducts a systematic, qualitative, and in-depth review of 38 articles published from 2010 to 2024 in high-quality accounting journals, all of which use SDT in their theorizing. The literature was analyzed by means of a thematic approach using the NVivo software.

Findings: A key achievement of the reviewed literature is the recognition that employees’ work motivation can be depicted as a self-determination continuum, ranging from controlled types (external and introjected motivation) to autonomous ones (identified, integrated, and intrinsic motivation). The literature has also shown that when results controls support employees’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, this will foster more autonomous types of motivation, and vice versa when they thwart these needs. Moreover, through fostering autonomous types of motivation, these controls may not only contribute to high employee creativity and work performance but also enhance feelings of well-being and job satisfaction. This said, however, the reviewed literature also suffers from several weaknesses. These include a limited attention to key SDT ideas such as the motivational effects of individual-level personality traits and the internalization processes through which employees “take in” results controls. The literature also suffers from limited knowledge cumulativity largely as the result of diverging views on how to understand key SDT concepts and their relationships.

Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first systematic review of the accounting literature that uses SDT as a theoretical lens to examine the influence of results controls on employee motivation. As such, it uncovers overall achievements and weaknesses which are difficult to grasp when reading individual studies. It also highlights several knowledge gaps, thereby providing a basis for future research on the motivational effects of results controls.