4. Global Retailers and Procedural Components of Management Control
The correct configuration of the organisational structure and control system
information emerges as a condition for an effective control process. The latter defines
the manner and frequency of activities to define objectives (long-term and short-term
planning) and to observe results, on the basis of the company’s degree of complexity,
as well as the dynamism of the outside world.
It is crucial to correctly translate corporate strategies into managerial targets,
particularly for global companies, which usually have a single strategic management
body and fragmented operating units. In these hypotheses, the concept of
‘glocalisation’ seems to be acquiring particular importance. It was coined to define
supply systems that respond to global strategies but also change to adapt the product
to the needs of specific local contexts. In other words, the definition of global
strategic guidelines must be suitably translated into managerial objectives that respect the decisional-making and operational autonomy of the units disseminated through
the territory.
□ ‘If you come to China with preconceived ideas after having been
successful in Europe or in the United States, you make mistake after
mistake’. Jean-Loc Chéreau, President of Carrefour China (interviewed
by McKinsey, 2006)
The geographical dispersion of the organisational units draws attention to the
problem of enhancing the unitary character of the company while also guaranteeing
the necessary flexibility to adapt governance and control processes to the
characteristics of the local socio-geographic and competitive context8
. The current
trend can be attributed to both the centralisation of methodological processes in the
parent company, and to the strategic importance of control processes (medium and
long-term planning, the design of the information platform, the definition of general
policies to advance human resources, risk mapping, outlining of global internal
auditing plans, etc.) with the operating units responsible for the implementation stage
and for monitoring actions (the performance indices and monitoring of results, the
introduction of user-friendly IT tools, the definition of personnel assessment systems,
monitoring of exposure to the risks identified, specific checks to control the activities
performed, etc.).
As a result, in global companies, the effectiveness of the management control
system is clearly reflected in the cultural and communicational aspects consolidated
in the context of the organisation, and this results in the adoption of common
languages, mechanisms and tools that can foster shared knowledge and managerial
alignment between geographically distant individuals and structures.
Moreover, the control process must not overlook the changes taking place in
traditional competition levers. On one hand, sudden changes in the key success
factors impose a reduction in observation times, the intensification of the control
communications and development that reflects different economic scenarios, for
example reflecting the most rational management development hypothesis, and a
disaster case hypothesis.
On the other hand, corporate intangible assets play an increasingly important role,
i.e. those variables of success which, for their very intangibility, escape easy
identification and direct quantification, although they play a leading role in the
achievement of company performance. Obviously, monitoring intangible assets does
not replace traditional control variables, but supplements them with elements
correlated to the growth of the intangible value of the company.
Modern management control systems should therefore elaborate both new
processes to translate intangible key success factors into performance indicators to
guide the activities of the responsibility centres, and new report models that highlight
the contribution to competitive economic and social corporate performances9
.
And finally, the management control processes of global companies must be
designed and implemented by carefully studying possible moments of contact or
potential overlapping with tools typical of other controls undertaken inside the
company (for example internal auditing, risk management, etc.). In other words it is
necessary to adopt a systemic, integrated view with regard to all the controls that are developed in a complex company and which, although differentiated by the subject,
targets and object of intervention, are usually oriented to achieving maximum
effectiveness and efficiency of operating activities, minimising risk, respecting
standards and evolving reliable information flows
.