independently of other MC practices and it is this independence
assumption that has been heavily criticized. As a response,
theorists have put forward the systems approach
to contingency theory and empiricists have begun to examine
combinations of MC practices that form packages or
systems.
Despite the similarity of these responses, they have
developed into two literature streams that are quite independent
of each other, leading to the current status of the
broader MC literature in which there is ambiguity about
what is meant by a ‘‘package’’ or ‘‘system’’. In this paper,
we address questions related to MC as a package and as a
system, both from a conceptual and empirical perspective.
The purpose of our paper is to clarify a number of issues, so
as to guide future research in this area. We do not claim to
have all the answers. Rather we make a number of assumptions
explicit to show when it is important to address
multiple MC practices simultaneously, why this is the case,
and what the empirical implications are.
In their seminal paper, Drazin and Van de Ven (1985, p.
521) state that the systems approach to contingency
theory maintains that organizational design involves two
basic choices: (1) selecting MC practices that match the