Controlling motivation of software engineers in Swedish technology start-ups - A multi-case study

Sammanfattning: Sweden has in recent years started to profile itself as a technology hub due to its rapid increase in technology (tech) start-ups. Though management control systems (MCS) and motivation have separately been shown to increase the growth of start-ups and performance of software engineers (SE), the literature is still in a surprisingly nascent state when combining the two in a start-up setting. This paper aims at addressing this gap by specifically looking at how MCS as a package are designed in tech start-ups to act as an external factor that affects the self-determination of individual SEs, and thus boost their performance. To answer this the study first looked at what motivators affects the self-determination (autonomy, competence, relatedness) of an individual SE and secondly how the design of MCS as a package can enable this self-determination. Using an explorative, multiple case study and collecting data using qualitative in-depth interviews in four tech start-ups we first find specific motivators of SE related to their self-determination and secondly that there is an interrelatedness between motivation and MCS as a package. Specifically, autonomy, competence and relatedness are satisfied by specific configurations of both formal and informal control systems that together can have a positive effect on SE motivation. Moreover, the use of administrative controls such as retrospectives allows SEs to affect the MCS package and adapt the design to the SEs basic psychological needs.