Résumé
Drawing on both management control and entrepreneurship literatures, this paper focuses on how different levers of control (Simons, 1995) influence firms’ entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and its relationship to performance. In this research, we develop a conceptual model in which interactive control systems operate as an antecedent of EO while diagnostic control systems and boundary systems positively moderate the EO–performance relationship. Using data from 278 French firms, we tested our research model through a structural equation modeling approach. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between interactive control systems and EO as well as between EO and firm performance. Results did not support our assumption that diagnostic control systems and boundary systems separately influence the EO–performance relationship. Rather, the joint use of diagnostic control systems and boundary systems significantly moderates this relationship. EO has its most positive effect on firm performance when diagnostic control systems and boundary systems are concurrently emphasized.