This paper addresses the issue of management control (MC) within an inter-firm setting. It attempts to fill this gap in MC literature by considering both contingency and consistency perspectives to examine MC design and effectiveness. Based on a sample of European R&D consortia and using the PLS-SEM approach, we infer that the package approach is more suitable than the system one to grasp and explain MC within R&D consortia. Thus, the package allows several configurations of MC in an ongoing process that, in turn, leads to balance control requirements and innovation needs. Our findings highlight also the moderating effects of relational risks that may strengthen or damp the benefits of package components. Accordingly, the package’s effectiveness seems to be affected by external contingencies rather than its internal consistency. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are then discussed.
