Recent developments indicate a fast-growing relevance of the agile project methodology in innovation. Besides the benefits, agile projects also pose several challenges. Organizations need to come up with an answer to cope with the inherent risks of agile projects. The adaption of management control mechanisms is key to foster the benefits of agile. However, the ongoing debate on the benefits of control systems for innovation and the harm of control systems for achieving agility creates a nexus. Further research on how to adapt existing mechanisms is required to obtain a better understanding and provide guidance for organizations. Building on Simon's levers-of-control (LOC), this study specifies the consequences of different control levers applied by top managers on the outcome of innovation projects considering the respective project agility and the agility of the projects' environment. We follow the calls of existing research on the nexus of control and agility and adumbrate which control levers can positively influence the outcome of agile and non-agile innovation projects. Using survey data of 316 project managers and product owners across different industries, this study reveals that the impact of control on innovation project performance depends on the design of control systems and the emphasis on different control levers used by top managers. Furthermore, the findings reveal a moderation effect of agility in this context. The combination of the LOC and agile project management for innovation projects contributes to the literature on innovation management, project management, and management control.

最近的发展表明，敏捷项目方法论在创新中的重要性与日俱增。除了带来的好处外，敏捷项目还带来了一些挑战。组织需要想出应对敏捷项目所固有风险的答案。调整管理控制机制是培养敏捷优势的关键。但是，关于控制系统对创新的好处和控制系统对实现敏捷性的危害的持续辩论引起了人们的关注。需要对如何适应现有机制进行进一步研究，以更好地理解并为组织提供指导。以Simon的控制杆（LOC）为基础，这项研究考虑了各自项目的敏捷性和项目环境的敏捷性，确定了高层管理人员对创新项目的结果应用不同控制杠杆的后果。我们遵循有关控制，敏捷性和灵活的关系的现有研究的号召，这些控制杠杆可以对敏捷和非敏捷创新项目的成果产生积极影响。使用不同行业的316个项目经理和产品所有者的调查数据，该研究表明，控制对创新项目绩效的影响取决于控制系统的设计，以及对高层管理人员所使用的不同控制杠杆的重视。此外，研究结果揭示了在这种情况下敏捷性的适度影响。