Management control through verbal rewards – a systematic review and research agenda

Abstract This article reviews empirical research on the impact of verbal rewards on workplace performance and proposes a research agenda for future studies. A theoretical model is developed and examined through a systematic literature review encompassing 22 empirical studies on the relationships between verbal rewards, motivation, direction, and performance in organizational settings. The findings from the review are consistent with the theoretical model in several respects: verbal rewards have a positive effect on performance in most of the studies; the attributes of verbal rewards influence their associations with performance; direction mediates the relationship between verbal rewards and performance; and work complexity moderates the relationship between controlling verbal rewards and autonomous motivation. However, the findings are inconsistent with the model’s assumption that the relationship between verbal rewards and controlled motivation weakens in high-complexity work contexts, and overall, the theoretical model requires further testing in additional empirical studies. The article concludes with theoretical implications, implications for management control systems, practical implications, and a research agenda for future studies.