The conclusion that MC as a system is the correct perspective
to examine multiple MC practices raises the fundamental
question of what theory is useful from this
perspective in order to put structure on what is meant by
‘‘internally consistent’’. We propose that complementarity
theory is suitable to address issues related to MC as a system
because the theory explicitly addresses how a decision
maker tries to maximize ‘‘performance’’ by (simultaneously)
deciding on multiple choice variables. This observation
per se is not new. In their paper on the disciplinary
constraints on the advancement of knowledge, Merchant,
Van der Stede, and Zheng (2003) hint at similarities between
the concepts of fit and complementarity and propose
potential synergies of the economics and the
accounting literatures when it comes to explaining the
concept of fit. As Milgrom and Roberts (1995, p. 180) argue:
‘‘the ideas of complementarities [. . .] give substance
to previously elusive notions such as ‘fit’ or ‘systems effects’’’.
However, it is important to note at this point that
‘‘fit’’ in contingency theory relates to how MC practices
fit with context, while ‘‘fit’’ in complementarity theory relates
to how MC practices fit with each other. As such,
complementarity theory does not give more substance to
the common view of contingency fit. Rather, complementarity
theory gives more substance to what a system is
and thus also to how a system fits with context, both of
which are the core components of the systems fit to contingency
theory.