In the course of development organisms learn to associate their actions with the effects these actions have in the environment. Recent studies have shown that perceiving or anticipating action-effects automatically activates actions, which formerly have been experienced to cause these effects (Elsner & Hommel, 2001). Using subliminal priming paradigms and electrophysiological measures I investigated whether subliminally (i.e., not consciously perceivable) presented action-effects can automatically activate associated actions and if so, whether this response priming by action-effects can bias free-choice actions. Secondly I investigated whether action-effects with different emotional valences influence response selection differently. To address the first question three experiments were performed. Each experiment consisted of two experimental phases. The first phase, the acquisition-phase, was a learning phase were simple key-press actions were associated with simple visual stimuli (i.e., action-effects; diamond or square) that were contingent on the actions. Immediately after the acquisition-phase the test-phase followed, in which participants performed free-choice actions after the presentation of a Go-signal. In Experiments 2 and 3 a NoGo-signal indicating that responses had to be withheld could appear with the same likelihood as the Go-signal. Unknown to the participants, one of the former action-effects (diamond or square) was presented subliminally prior to each Go- and NoGo-signal to investigate the influence of unconscious action-effects on response selection. Taken together, the results of the test-phases provided strong evidence that even subliminally presented (i.e., unconscious) action-effects can automatically activate associated responses. The response priming by action-effects became evident in the lateralized readiness potential (LRP), an electrophysiological indicator of specific response activation processes. Under certain circumstanced this automatic response activation can bias free-choice actions although participants experienced the actions as freely chosen. In the test-phase of the first experiment more acquisition-phase-consistent than –inconsistent responses were chosen. If, for instance, a left key-press had been associated with a square during the acquisition-phase, the left key was chosen significantly more often after the subliminal presentation of a square in the test-phase. At least three factors seemed to influence which responses were chosen and executed: The strength of the priming effect, the complexity of the task (i.e., pure Go-blocks or intermixed Go/NoGo-blocks), and the elapsed time between the prime stimulus and the Go-signal. To address the second question simple key-press actions were linked to action-effects with different emotional valences (positive vs. negative pictures accompanied by high or low tones) during the acquisition-phase. In the subsequent test-phase, the effects-tones that had been associated with negative or positive pictures were presented and followed by a Go-signal, after which participants had to freely choose to press one of the two response keys. Results indicated that the anticipation of the emotional valence of an action-effect influenced free-choice action. Whereas the effect-tones induced a clear response bias (i.e., more acquisition-consistent than –inconsistent key-choices) if they had been associated with a positive emotional valence, this response bias was not reliable for action-effects associated with negative emotional features. In summary, the present results provide further proof for ideomotor theories of action control (James, 1890; Elsner & Hommel, 2001) which state that actions are automatically activated by anticipating their consequences.

L’hypothèse des voies visuelles attribue des rôles fonctionnels spécifiques aux réseaux cérébraux ventral et dorsal du système visuel. Ce modèle émet l’hypothèse selon laquelle la voie ventrale sous-tend le traitement de l'information pour la perception (vision-for-perception), alors que la voie dorsale est impliquée dans le traitement de l'information pour l'action (vision-for-action). L'idée de deux réseaux visuels distincts dans le cerveau humain a fait l’objet de très nombreux travaux de recherche au cours des 20 dernières années, mais les résultats apparaissent contradictoires. Cette thèse vise à éclaircir une partie du mystère de la façon dont la perception et l'action s’articulent. La figure d’Ebbinghaus a été utilisée pour distinguer la fonction d’une vision pour la perception, sensible aux illusions visuelles (taille relative), de la fonction d’une vision pour l’action affectée par les propriétés physiques de l’objet. Dans une première étude, nous avons quantifié l’illusion d’Ebbinghaus. Après, une démarche comparable de caractérisation des mouvements visuomoteurs a été implémentée sous des contraintes de précision et de vitesse. La caractérisation des mouvements visuomoteurs et la quantification de la perception des configurations Ebbinghaus ont ensuite permis de concevoir une tâche visuomotrice dont les cibles étaient des figures d’Ebbinghaus.La thèse a démontré que les voies ventrale et dorsale ne sont pas strictement distinctes fonctionnellement. Différentes variables informationnelles sont potentiellement utilisées pour ‘la vision pour la perception’ et ‘la vision pour l’action’ indépendamment du fait que certaines variables causent des illusions. / The influential two-visual streams hypothesis ascribes specific functional roles to the ventral and the dorsal network of the visual system. The ventral system has been hypothesized to process information for conscious perception (vision-for-perception), whereas the dorsal stream processes information for action (vision-for-action). The idea of two separate visual networks in the human brain inspired an enormous amount of research over the past 20 or so years. The results are conflicting and divisive about the idea, causing a seemingly insurmountable gap between supporters and opponents. This thesis aims to unravel a part of the jigsaw puzzle of how perception and action are functioning. The Ebbinghaus figure has been used to distinguish vision-for-perception that is susceptible to visual illusions (i.e., relative size) from vision-for-action that remain unaffected by perceptions of relative sizes. Therefore, we quantified the Ebbinghaus figure based on its geometry and systematically assessed its size illusion. Subsequently, a visuomotor task was implemented in which precision and speed of the voluntary movement were investigated. The description of the visuomotor task and of the perception of Ebbinghaus figures lead to combine both visuomotor task and Ebbinghaus figures. A dynamical model was fit to the experimental data to investigate the effect on the behavioral dynamics.This thesis demonstrated that the ventral stream and dorsal stream are not strictly functionally distinct, and that potentially different informational variables are used for ‘vision for perception’ and ‘vision for action’ irrespective of whether certain variables cause (perceptual) illusions.

Actions are goal-directed. It can be the goal of an action to change the environment (i.e. to produce an effect), but also to change one´s own situation in the environment (i.e. to move to a physical target). Previous research has shown that kinematics of actions directed towards physical targets are not only mere reactions to such targets. Instead, targets evoke intentional goals. Representations of such intentional goals influence action execution. However, thus far, most studies in the context of the ideomotor theory of action control have focused on the influence of anticipated action effects on action planning. The role of targets as action goals as well as the role of goal anticipations on overt action execution has mostly been neglected. In this dissertation the role of goal representations in action control was investigated. The ideomotor theory served as a theoretical framework. It was assumed that targets function as action goals similar to action effects and that action goals influence action execution by the anticipation of upcoming events. Action execution towards targets and towards effects was compared. This was done in the temporal and the spatial domain. Furthermore, goal representations were manipulated in order to evaluate their influence on action execution and to disentangle the role of physical target characteristics and the role of goal representations. The findings obtained strengthen the assumption that goal representations play an important role in action control. First, both targets and effects can be viewed as goals of an action in the temporal and spatial domain. Second, movement kinematics are shaped by the way targets are represented as action goals, rather than by physically target properties. In conclusion, as goal representations are formed before the action is actually executed they influence action execution by the anticipation of upcoming events. The ideomotor theory of action control should incorporate action targets as goals similar to action effects.

Bakgrund: Sedan 1990-talet har de stora klädkedjorna tagit allt större marknadsandelar, vilket i sin tur har lett till att klädbranschen blivit mer centraliserad. På grund av detta blir butikschefen, som har huvudansvaret för butiken, mer styrd i sitt arbete. Butikschefen har mål att förhålla sig till samtidigt som han eller hon blir styrd i sina handlingar för att uppnå målet. Syfte: Syftet är att genom intervjuer ge en förståelse för hur butikschefers motivation påverkas av den utformade styrningen och redogöra för vilka motivationsfaktorer butikscheferna finner mest motiverande i sitt arbete. Genomförande: Studien har genomförts genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med butikschefer och är i och med det en kvalitativ metod. Detta metodval möjliggör att studera butikscheferna mer på djupet. Intervjuerna har transkriberats och sedan analyserats med hjälp av teoriramen i studien. De fyra klädkedjorna i studien har alla en omsättning på över en miljard kronor årligen och de använder sig av en centraliserad styrning. Resultat: Butikscheferna i studien anser att deras uppsatta mål måste uppfattas som rättvisa för att vara motiverande. Det är också viktigt att det långsiktiga budgetmålet kombineras med kortsiktiga mål, eftersom flera mål i arbetet uppfattas som positivt och det leder till att det långsiktiga målet inte upplevs lika avlägset. Ansvar är en viktig del i arbetet, dock leder inte mer ansvar alltid till högre motivation utan i butikschefernas fall ska det vara på en rimlig nivå. Feedback är något som butikscheferna behöver ha regelbundet. Det är viktigt att feedbacken inte endast innehåller information om resultatet, utan de vill även få direktiv på hur de kan förändra sina handlingar i arbetet till det bättre. / Background: Since the 1990s, the major clothing companies have taken an increasingly large market share. This has led to that the clothing industry has become more centralized. Because of this, the store manager who has primary responsibility for the store is more guided in their work. The store manager has goals to relate to while he or she is guided in their actions to achieve their goals. Purpose: The aim is that through interviews provide an understanding of how the store managers' motivation is influenced by the designed control system and explain what motivators store managers find most motivating in their work. Implementation: The study was conducted by six semi-structured interviews with store managers and is thus a qualitative approach. This methodology allows for the study of store managers in more depth. The interviews have transcribed and then analyzed using the theoretical framework of the study. The four clothing companies in the study all have a turnover of over 1 billion annually and uses a centralized control. Outcome: Store managers in the study pronounce that their goals must be perceived as fair to be motivating. It is also important to the long-term budgetary objective, combined with short-term goals, as several goals at work are perceived as positive and the long term goal does not feel as distant. Responsibility is an important part of the work, however more responsibility does not always lead to higher motivation and therefore store managers' cases should be at a reasonable level. Feedback is something that store managers need regularly. It is important that feedback not only contains information about the results, but they also want to get a directive on how they can change the work for the better.

Unsere Fähigkeit Erwartungen auszubilden über zukünftige Ereignisse oder die Ergebnisse unserer eigenen Handlungen ist von entscheidender Bedeutung für zielgerichtetes Verhalten. Obgleich diese Ansicht einer Reihe von einflussreichen theoretischen Strömungen in der kognitiven Psychologie zugrunde liegt, bleiben bislang wichtige Fragen dazu offen. Jüngere Ergebnisse aus neurophysiologischen und Bildgebungsstudien legen nahe, dass bewusste Ziele – ähnlich expliziter Erwartung – nicht mehr sind als ein Nebenprodukt von automatischen und unbewussten Aktivierungsmustern und keinen echten Einfluss auf Verhalten haben. Explizite subjektive Erwartung wird vielmals abgetan, weil sie kein zuverlässiges Maß „wahrer“ mentaler Prozesse darstelle, oder weil sie nicht notwendig sei, um Verhalten zu erklären. In der vorliegenden Arbeit beschäftige ich mich mit der Rolle expliziter subjektiver Erwartung und untersuche die folgenden Fragen: (1) Sind verbalisierte Vorhersagen ein valider Indikator für intern generierte Erwartungen? (2) Haben solche Erwartungen tatsächlich einen Einfluss auf Handlungsvorbereitung? (3) Worin besteht der Unterschied zwischen Erwartungen, die auf äußeren oder inneren Quellen beruhen? Die Ergebnisse aus drei Studien, die ich im Rahmen dieser Dissertation durchgeführt habe, belegen, dass verbalisierte Vorhersagen ein valider Indikator von subjektiver Erwartung sind. Subjektive Erwartung kann nicht als ein Nebenprodukt von Handlungsvorbereitung verstanden werden, sondern trägt zu dieser bei und spielt daher eine wichtige Rolle in der Handlungskontrolle. Selbstgenerierte Erwartung beeinflusst gegenüber Cue-induzierter Erwartung verstärkt frühe Aufmerksamkeits- und zentrale Entscheidungsprozesse. Selbstgenerierte Vorhersagen führen zu verstärkten Verhaltenseffekten, und zwar sowohl bei Stimuluserwartungen als auch bei Erwartungen bezüglich einer Aufgabe. Subjektive Erwartung ist demnach auch entscheidend für kognitive Kontrolle. / Our ability to form expectations about future events or the results of our own actions is crucial for efficient behavior. While this notion underlies a range of influential theoretical approaches in cognitive psychology, from reinforcement learning to ideo-motor theory, a number of open questions remain. Recent results from neurophysiological and brain imaging studies suggest that conscious intention – or explicit expectation – is nothing more than a by-product of automatic and unconscious activation patterns, without any real impact on behavior. Explicit subjective expectation has been dismissed by many researchers who regard it either an unreliable measure of “true” mental processes, or question its necessity in explaining behavior in general. In the current work, I focus on the role of explicit subjective expectation and attempt to answer the following questions: (1) Are verbalized predictions a valid indicator of internally generated expectations? (2) Do such expectations really affect action preparation? (3) What are the differences between expectations arising from external or internal sources? Results from the three studies conducted within the scope of this dissertation demonstrate that verbalized predictions are in fact a valid indicator of subjective expectation and are suitable for use in experimental paradigms. Also, subjective expectation cannot be described as a mere by-product of preparation, but instead feeds into preparation and therefore plays a role in action control. Self-generated expectation was shown to involve early attentional and central decision processes to a greater degree than cue-induced expectation. Consequently, self-generated predictions entailed greater behavioral effects not only for stimulus expectations, but also for expectations regarding a task set. Subjective expectation is therefore also elemental in cognitive control.

Le contrôle cognitif de l’action est un processus permettant de supprimer un comportement inapproprié au profit d’une action dirigée par l’intention. Il est particulièrement important en situation de conflit où l’expression de comportements alternatifs entre en compétition. Ce processus est largement soutenu par des réseaux cortico-sous-corticaux frontaux dont le bon fonctionnement est impacté par la maladie de Parkinson. Nous nous sommes intéressés au rôle de ces différentes structures cérébrales dans le contrôle cognitif de l’action en s’appuyant sur l’impact de la maladie de Parkinson et de ses traitements. Plus précisément, nous avons discuté des aspects dynamiques de sélection et de suppression des réponses impulsives tel que proposé par le modèle d’activation-suppression dans le cas de réponses oculaires. Nous avons donc adapté une tâche expérimentale de conflit classique, la Simon task, utilisant les mouvements oculaires, et validé son utilisation de notre dans le cadre de ce modèle. Les travaux suivant ont porté sur l’impact de divers facteurs sur ce processus. Nous avons montré que le vieillissement normal exacerbe la sélection impulsive des actions qui pourrait être compensée par la mise en place d’une inhibition sélective plus efficace. Ces résultats sont en accord avec de récentes théories proposant le recrutement plus important des structures préfrontales afin de pallier aux déficits cognitifs entrainés par le vieillissement. Nos résultats ont également indiqué que la maladie de Parkinson entraine une augmentation très importante de la sélection impulsive des actions ce que nous attribuons au dysfonctionnement des boucles cortico-sous-corticales causé par la maladie. Finalement, nous nous sommes intéressés à l’impact de la stimulation cérébrale profonde du noyau subthalamique. Nos résultats préliminaires n’ont pas montré d’effet de ce traitement sur les capacités de contrôle cognitif de l’action. Nous discutons l’ensemble de nos résultats à la lumière des travaux majeurs portant sur les structures cérébrales impliquées dans le contrôle cognitif de l’action et proposons plusieurs perspectives de recherches pouvant avoir un impact fondamental ou clinique. / Cognitive action control is a process that allows suppressing an inappropriate behavior to the benefit of an intentionally-guided action. It is particularly important in situations of conflict when alternative behaviors compete for their expression. This process relies mostly on cortical-subcortical networks which functioning is impaired by Parkinson’s disease. We were interested in the role of these different brain structures in cognitive action control by focusing on the impact of Parkinson’s diseases and its treatments. More precisely, we addressed the dynamic aspects of impulsive action selection and suppression as proposed by the recent activation-suppression model regarding oculomotor responses. We thus adapted a classical experimental conflict task, the Simon task, using eye movements, and validated its use within the context of the activation-suppression model. Our further work focused on the impact of several factors on cognitive action control. We showed that normal aging enhances impulsive action selection that could be compensated for by the set-up of a more efficient selective inhibition. These results are in accordance with recent theories proposing that age-related cognitive deficits are compensated for by an increased recruitment of prefrontal structures. Our results also revealed that Parkinson’s disease results in a strong increase in impulsive action selection which we attribute to the impairment of the cortical-basal ganglia loops. Finally, we were interested by the impact of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Our preliminary results revealed no effect of this treatment on cognitive action control. We discuss all of our results according to previous researches on the brain structures involved in cognitive action control and we propose several perspective that can have a fundamental or clinical impact.

Goal-directed behavior is based on representations of contingencies between a certain situation (S), a certain (re)action (R) and a certain outcome (O). These S-R-O representations enable flexible response selection in different situations according to the currently pursued goal. Importantly however, the successful formation of such representations is a necessary but not sufficient precondition for goal-directed behavior which additionally requires the actual usage of the contingency information for action control. The present fMRI study aimed at identifying the neural basis of each of these two aspects: representing vs. explicitly using experienced S-R-O contingencies. To this end, we created three experimental conditions: S-R-O contingency present and used for outcome-based response selection, S-R-O contingency present but not used, and S-R-O contingency absent. The comparison between conditions with and without S-R-O contingency revealed that the angular gyrus is relevant for representing S-R-O contingencies. The explicit usage of learnt S-R-O representations in turn was associated with increased functional coupling between angular gyrus and several subcortical (hippocampus, caudate head), prefrontal (lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC)) and cerebellar areas, which we suggest represent different explicit and implicit processes of goal-directed action control. Hence, we ascribe a central role to the angular gyrus in associating actions to their sensory outcomes which is used to guide behavior through coupling of the angular gyrus with multiple areas related to different aspects of action control.

Bakgrund: Det svenska samhället har historiskt sett genomgått stora förändringar där utvecklingen präglats av fyra industriella revolutioner. På senare tid har ny teknik som internet, webbkamera och uppkoppling varit av stor vikt och bidragit till nya möjligheter för företagen. Det första fallet av covid19 rapporterades i december 2019 och blev startskottet på en pandemi. Sverige presenterade restriktioner kring covid-19 i mars 2020 där företagen uppmanas till distansarbete. Restriktionerna har visat löna sig då statistik från SCB, hösten 2020, visade att en av tre svenskar arbetade hemifrån. Hur omständigheterna kring covid-19 har påverkat företagets interna styrsystem framgår dock inte och är således något studien ämnar förklara. Syfte och forskningsfråga: Syftet med denna studie är att förklara hur styrsystemets funktionalitet uppfattas av anställda under distansarbete till följd av restriktioner kring covid-19 i Sverige. Hur har styrsystemets funktionalitet påverkats efter kravet om utökat distansarbete? Metod: Denna kvantitativa tvärsnittsstudie grundades i en enkät som riktar sig till anställda som varit med i omställningen till distansarbete. Enkäten är uppbyggd utifrån studiens fem områden; handlingsstyrning, kulturell styrning, personalstyrning, resultatstyrning och prestation. Resultat: Studien resulterade i ett statistiskt signifikant positivt samband för anställdas uppfattning av kulturell styrning och distansarbete. För styrformen resultatstyrning framkom att en av delhypoteserna visade statistiskt signifikant positivt samband angående förståelse av förväntade resultat och distansarbete. För resterande styrformer har inga statistiskt signifikanta samband påvisats och därmed kan inga ytterligare slutsatser dras / Background: The Swedish society has historically undergone major changes where the development has been characterized by four industrial revolutions. In recent times, new technology such as the internet, webcam and connection have been of great importance and contributed to new opportunities for companies. The first case of covid-19 was reported in December 2019 and was the start of a pandemic. Sweden presented restrictions on covid-19 in March 2020, where companies are encouraged to work remotely. The restrictions have proven to pay off when statistics from SCB, in the autumn of 2020, showed that one in three Swedes work from home. However, it is not clear how the circumstances surrounding covid-19 have affected the company's internal management control system and is thus something the study intends to explain.  Purpose and research question: The purpose of this study is to explain how the functionality of the control system is perceived by employees during telework as a result of restrictions on covid-19 in Sweden. How has the function of management control systems been affected by teleworking?  Methodology: This quantitative cross-sectional study was based on a questionnaire aimed at employees who had been involved in the transition to telework. The questionnaire is structured based on the study's five areas: action control, cultural control, personnel control, result control and performance.  Result: The study resulted in a statistically significant positive correlation for employees' perceptions of cultural control and teleworking. For the control system, result control, it emerged that one of the sub-hypotheses showed a statistically significant positive correlation regarding understanding of expected results and teleworking. For remaining control systems, no statistically significant correlation has been demonstrated and thus no further conclusions can be drawn.

In the course of development organisms learn to associate their actions with the effects these actions have in the environment. Recent studies have shown that perceiving or anticipating action-effects automatically activates actions, which formerly have been experienced to cause these effects (Elsner & Hommel, 2001). Using subliminal priming paradigms and electrophysiological measures I investigated whether subliminally (i.e., not consciously perceivable) presented action-effects can automatically activate associated actions and if so, whether this response priming by action-effects can bias free-choice actions. Secondly I investigated whether action-effects with different emotional valences influence response selection differently. To address the first question three experiments were performed. Each experiment consisted of two experimental phases. The first phase, the acquisition-phase, was a learning phase were simple key-press actions were associated with simple visual stimuli (i.e., action-effects; diamond or square) that were contingent on the actions. Immediately after the acquisition-phase the test-phase followed, in which participants performed free-choice actions after the presentation of a Go-signal. In Experiments 2 and 3 a NoGo-signal indicating that responses had to be withheld could appear with the same likelihood as the Go-signal. Unknown to the participants, one of the former action-effects (diamond or square) was presented subliminally prior to each Go- and NoGo-signal to investigate the influence of unconscious action-effects on response selection. Taken together, the results of the test-phases provided strong evidence that even subliminally presented (i.e., unconscious) action-effects can automatically activate associated responses. The response priming by action-effects became evident in the lateralized readiness potential (LRP), an electrophysiological indicator of specific response activation processes. Under certain circumstanced this automatic response activation can bias free-choice actions although participants experienced the actions as freely chosen. In the test-phase of the first experiment more acquisition-phase-consistent than –inconsistent responses were chosen. If, for instance, a left key-press had been associated with a square during the acquisition-phase, the left key was chosen significantly more often after the subliminal presentation of a square in the test-phase. At least three factors seemed to influence which responses were chosen and executed: The strength of the priming effect, the complexity of the task (i.e., pure Go-blocks or intermixed Go/NoGo-blocks), and the elapsed time between the prime stimulus and the Go-signal. To address the second question simple key-press actions were linked to action-effects with different emotional valences (positive vs. negative pictures accompanied by high or low tones) during the acquisition-phase. In the subsequent test-phase, the effects-tones that had been associated with negative or positive pictures were presented and followed by a Go-signal, after which participants had to freely choose to press one of the two response keys. Results indicated that the anticipation of the emotional valence of an action-effect influenced free-choice action. Whereas the effect-tones induced a clear response bias (i.e., more acquisition-consistent than –inconsistent key-choices) if they had been associated with a positive emotional valence, this response bias was not reliable for action-effects associated with negative emotional features. In summary, the present results provide further proof for ideomotor theories of action control (James, 1890; Elsner & Hommel, 2001) which state that actions are automatically activated by anticipating their consequences.

Inledning: Gasellföretagens utmaning är att de arbetar under en väldigt hög tillväxt. Attständigt lyckas bibehålla en snabb och lönsam tillväxt med hög kvalitét blir allt svårare när detska göras i en snabbföränderlig och oförutsebar miljö. På grund av denna komplexitet samt enökad personalstyrka som uppkommer till följd av företagets snabba tillväxt behöververksamheten tillämpa specifika styrmedel. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att förstå personal-, handlings- och resultatstyrning i svenskagasellföretag. Metod: Den här studien utgår från en deduktiv forskningsansats med inslag av en induktivansats. Studiens empiri har genomförts med en kvalitativ forskningsansats och utgörs avsemistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra gasellföretag. Litteraturstudien har genomförts genomatt samla in teorier från tidigare forskningsstudier inom ämnesområdet. Slutsats: Studien påvisar att svenska gasellföretag värdesätter personalstyrning högre änhandlings- och resultatstyrning. Samtidigt visar studien, enligt respondenternas uppfattning, attpersonalstyrning har varit den främsta bidragsgivaren till tillväxten hos de intervjuadeföretagen. Av studien framgick det även att handlingsstyrning är något som, delvis dolt,används i gasellföretag. Vidare framgår det i studiens slutsats att resultatstyrning är någotsvenska gasellföretag har olika inställning till. Studien indikerar även att ett styrmedel inte kanverka isolerat i svenska gasellföretag. / Introduction: The challenge for gazelle companies is that they work during a very high levelof growth. Constantly succeeding in maintaining fast and profitable, high-quality growth isbecoming increasingly difficult when it comes to doing so in a rapidly changing andunpredictable environment. Due to this complexity and an increased workforce that arisesbecause of the company's rapid growth, the business needs to apply specific instruments. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to understand personnel-, action- and result control inSwedish gazelle companies. Method: This study is based on a deductive research approach with elements of an inductiveapproach. The empirical study has been carried out with a qualitative research approach andconsists of semi-structured interviews with four gazelle companies. The literature study hasbeen carried out by collecting theories from previous research studies in the subject area. Conclusion: The study shows that Swedish gazelle companies value personnel control higherthan action- and result control. At the same time, the study shows, in the respondents' view, thatpersonnel control has been main contributor to the growth of the interviewed companies. Thestudy also showed that action control is something that, partly hidden, is used in the gazellecompanies. Furthermore, it appears from the study's conclusion that result control is somethingSwedish gazelle companies have different attitudes to. The study also indicates that a controlinstrument cannot seem isolated in Swedish gazelle companies.