This paper reports on a research st

This paper reports on a research study which sought to explore some of the processes of control operating within a major British organization, Telco Ltd. This organization provides a range of communications and information services to both business and private customers. The initial theoretical perspectives which `guided’ the data collection phase of the study are outlined at the outset of the paper. The findings of the case are then presented and discussed in relation to these initial perspectives, as one of the aims of the study was to develop more complete perspectives that were better able to explain the phenomena that were observed. However, the study was also largely exploratory and inductive in nature, the researcher at all times remaining open to alternative explanations of the observations that were made, i.e. every effort was made to ensure that the data from the study informed theoretical explanations which are developed. On the basis of the study’s evidence, a `two-tiered’ model of management control is presented.