Management control in local government units – theory and practice

Purpose:The purpose of the work is: 1) to show the essence and importance of management control in its theoretical assumptions; 2) to present distortions of its essence in practice, including shortcomings, barriers, and related challenges; 3) to identify key instruments that can contribute to the proper implementation of management control.Design/methodology/approach: The scope of the work is determined by its objectives, which were achieved through the appropriately selected structure of the work, subordinated to their implementation, and the research methods used.The work uses research methods and techniques developed in the social sciences, in particular, legal-dogmatic analysis.Findings: Management control is a mandatory internal control of a managerial nature.To determine its essence, it is necessary to reach both the Law on Public Finance and the standards of management control.Despite the numerous advantages and benefits of management control, it does not function properly in many local government units.Despite different approaches to its implementation, almost every local government unit has documents/actions and procedures to support its implementation, a good foundation for the existence of functional management control.There are also numerous shortcomings and problems, such as the lack of self-assessment of management control, failure to set measures for achieving goals and objectives, errors in documents, etc.In this context, it is crucial to provide systemic support to local government units, if only by offering training, promoting good practices, and helping them make greater use of modern technologies.Research limitations/implications: Fully showing the shortcomings, challenges, and their scale requires in-depth quantitative research.