Management control and performance management in Moroccan public hospitals

Abstract

The objective of this document is to analyze the role and contribution of management control in the performance management of Moroccan public hospitals. The aim is to understand how management control has emerged and developed in hospitals, and what impact it has on performance management in these organizations, following the logic of the professional bureaucracy.

The approach combines a theoretical analysis and an empirical study. The theoretical analysis consists of a review of the existing literature on the main theories of management control, particularly those developed by Henri Bouquin and Henry Mintzberg. Bouquin conceives management control as a mechanism for normalizing results based on the definition of objectives and the monitoring of their achievement. Mintzberg, on the other hand, applies his model of the professional bureaucracy to hospitals and believes that the normalization of results is unusual there due to the complexity of processes and the difficulty of measuring outputs.

The empirical study is based on statistical data from activity reports of Moroccan hospitals, as well as a survey conducted among hospital management controllers. These elements are used to analyze the reality of management control in healthcare institutions in Morocco.

The main findings highlight the role of integration and dialogue played by management control, promoting the emergence of a common organizational culture. Its contribution to process management remains limited. The research also does not allow for a complete generalization of its results.

Although this study provides original insight into the reality of hospital management control in Morocco, some limitations remain. The qualitative analysis could be deepened. Additionally, a significant limitation lies in the lack of development of the theoretical debate around the divergence between the approaches of Bouquin and Mintzberg. A better understanding of this divergence would enrich the conceptual field.

Keywords : Management Control, Public Hospital, Performance Management.

Classification JEL : I00

Paper type : Theoretical Research