MANAGEMENT CONTROL LEGITIMACY, A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS USING BIBLIOMETRIX R-TOOL

Purpose - The New Public Management has encouraged the introduction of management control practices in public organizations in order to improve their performance. However, the implementation of these systems faces numerous obstacles, mainly the challenge of legitimacy. This paper aims to analyze the scientific production linking the concepts of legitimacy and management control, through a bibliometric review, in order to understand the overall evolution of scientific production in this field, as well as the different themes related to these concepts. Design/methodology/approach – Our Bibliometric review is based on the published papers related to management control and legitimacy, found on Scopus and Web of Science. We have conducted our study on a merged database of the two sources’ results, using the bibliometrix R-tool. Findings – This study identifies 53 papers published between 1994 and 2024, involving 131 authors and 38 journals. We have conducted a series of analyses using Biblioshiny, such as the evolution of scientific production, sources’ and countries’ local impact, most relevant documents and sources, and thematic evolution. This study has shown us that the field we’re studying is undersaturated, and that the concepts of management control and legitimacy are studied in various fields and are related to many themes such as Coporate Social Responsibility and institutional theories. Originality – This paper contributes to the literature on management control legitimacy, by providing a thorough bibliometric overview of the international research on this topic.