New technologies in management control systems: what impact on managerial innovation?

Prof. Dr. Carlos KANINDA MUKENA

2024 · 7 min read

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Artificial intelligence, big data, automation, connected devices: management control systems are being transformed at their core. Published in the Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, this study, co-authored with Moroccan researchers, examines how these emerging technologies are redefining managerial innovation — and the very real ethical challenges they raise for the organizations that adopt them.

Four technologies redefining management control

The study identifies four families of emerging technologies now transforming management control systems. Artificial intelligence and machine learning enable increasingly refined predictive analysis and decision support, surfacing trends that traditional methods fail to detect. Big data gives managers the ability to analyze considerable volumes of data in real time, improving the responsiveness of operational and strategic decisions. Automation and robotics lighten repetitive control processes, reducing errors and freeing up time for higher-value analysis. Finally, the Internet of Things (IoT) enables continuous collection of operational data, offering real-time visibility into the performance of management processes.

Efficiency gains, but real ethical risks

These efficiency gains do not come without trade-offs. The study identifies several major ethical challenges tied to the adoption of these technologies in management control: privacy risks linked to large-scale data collection, algorithmic bias liable to reproduce or amplify existing discrimination, difficulties in establishing clear accountability when decisions are assisted — or even made — by automated systems, and the social and environmental impact of the technologies themselves, particularly in terms of energy consumption and workforce transformation.

The impact on managerial innovation

The study, which draws in particular on four case studies, shows that integrating these technologies transforms managerial decision-making by making it faster and more data-driven, while reshaping business models themselves — new services, new revenue streams and new value chains become possible. It also redefines the managerial skills required, with growing demand for profiles that combine domain expertise with technological literacy, and pushes organizational culture toward greater transparency and cross-functional collaboration.

What this means for businesses in the DRC

For companies operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo, this study offers a useful lens at a time when the digitalization of management functions is accelerating, driven in part by the transparency and reporting requirements introduced by Law No. 26/018 on Local Content and by regional competitive pressure. Adopting these technologies to strengthen management control is a genuine opportunity to improve performance and the reliability of financial information. But this transformation cannot dispense with a proper data governance framework and structured ethical reflection — at the risk of reproducing, at digital scale, the very internal control gaps these technologies are meant to correct.

This study, co-authored with El Kezazy Hamza, Hilmi Yassine, Helmi Driss and Hajrioui Zahra, was published in the Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences (2024), 22(2): 1905-1912, DOI 10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.2.00133. Our Firm is available to support the digitalization of your management control and data governance frameworks.

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