The paper gives a grounded account of inter-organisational controls and work practices in
the public sector to complement previous literature’s strong focus on inter-organisational
customer–supplier relationships in the private sector. We draw theoretically on Hopwood’s
(1974) administrative, social and self controls, which enable us to analyse the influence of
non-managerial controls on behaviour. Empirically, a case study of inter-organisational
cooperation between home help units and health centres is used as the basis of analysis.
Most inter-organisational controls were developed locally and involved a mix of administrative,
social and self controls. Intra- and inter-organisational social and self controls were
important forms of control which impacted on intra- and inter-organisational work practices
and we see the need for a broad conceptualisation of control (Van der Meer-Kooistra
and Scapens, 2008). Inter-organisational social controls created an informal hierarchy that
by-passed the formal hierarchies of the two organisations. Self controls reinforced the
importance of being flexible to accommodate pensioner’s wishes and needs in specific care
situations. We also show the importance of the internal financial situation of home help
units for the analysis of the interdependencies of intra- and inter-organisational controls
and work practices.