The nature and tensions of environmental management control in local authorities
Abstract
This exploratory research aims to characterize, on the one hand, the concept of environmental management control (EMC) through the practices that underpin it, and, on the other hand, the tensions associated with it and the implementation of these practices in public organizations. Although EMC is attracting growing interest within the public sector, it seems to be facing technical and governance difficulties. A grid for analyzing management tools and the theory of organizational paradoxes is used to address the issue of characterizing EMC practices and the associated tensions in the local public sector. Various municipalities were mobilized to explore and characterize their first experiences of implementing EMC. Our results enable us to characterize both the tools used and the tensions generated between the objectives pursued in terms of resource management, dialogue with the socio-economic environment, and behavioral orientation.