Do management control systems in SMEs reflect CEO demographics?

Purpose - Drawing on upper echelons theory, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether CEOs place their distinctive marks on the design of planning, control and evaluation systems (i.e. management control systems (MCS)) in small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach - The authors use survey data from 189 Belgian SMEs and perform regression analyses to investigate the relation between the CEO demographics tenure, education and experience and various aspects of MCS design, controlling for the classical contingent variables. Findings - CEO tenure and education are related to evaluation system design, but there is no link between CEO demographics and planning and control system design. The lack of managerial discretion concerning planning and control systems could be explained by their more external and observable character, giving rise to pressures to comply with institutional norms ("good practices"). The presence of discretion concerning the design of evaluation systems could be due to their internal character. Practical implications - Since evaluation systems are an important determinant of work-related attitudes and can lead to dysfunctional behavior, it is important for company owners and board members to consider the demographics of present or new CEOs, and to understand the associated inclinations reflected in evaluation systems. Originality/value - The authors apply a more comprehensive approach than (the few) existing SME studies by relating a larger number of CEO demographics to a more comprehensive set of MCS elements, controlling for a larger group of contingent variables. Moreover, the authors fill gaps in the upper echelons and MCS literature.