A control method is executed by one device among devices included in a management system. Each of the devices includes a distributed ledger and stores: a parent smart contract including an automatic generation function of automatically generating a new smart contract; and a management function of selecting and managing one of child smart contracts generated by the devices. The control method includes: generating a first child smart contract; transmitting first transaction data including the generated first child smart contract to a different device and storing the first transaction data into the distributed ledger of the one device; receiving second transaction data including a second child smart contract generated by the different device and storing the second transaction data into the distributed ledger of the one device; and managing one child smart contract in association with the parent smart contract through execution of the management function.