In this article, we seek to understand innovative strategic management by examining the impact of management control systems (MCS) on innovation activities during the strategic change process. In this research, we conduct a case study in an innovative company, where a strategic change from closed innovation to open innovation has been made. We use Simmons' levers of control to frame the methods of designing and using MCS by managers and the impact of MCS on the innovative activities of organizational members. Finally, we found that, while managers designed and used MCS to support the move toward open innovation, organizational members did not change their innovation activities. Instead, we find that the MCSs that are developed enable improvements in their closed innovation strategy. This led to a reduction in the time spent on developing new products, which led to an increase in customer satisfaction and thus helped the organization achieve its goals. By focusing on the relationship between MCS and innovation activities in the strategic change process, we shed new light on the ability of MCS to change organizational members' innovation activities. Even if the innovative activities in our case company did not change the interactions between MCS, they made the organizational goals to be achieved because they provided the necessary informational infrastructure and matching of goals with motivation.