4. Planning for Control and Evaluation

A fundamental aspect of all management control systems is its capacity to make organisations controllable and possible to evaluate. In a well-functioning management control system—especially one that is “strategic”—it can be expected that the metrics used, decisions being made and the responsibilities for these decisions are supporting strategy formulation and implementation. It is especially important that the structures and processes of the control system facilitate an internal strategic dialogue between managers and co-workers in planning, following-up and evaluating the objectives and strategies of the organisation. The chapter discusses some of the challenges of establishing strategic management control. One such challenge is how to establish a strategic dialogue that will help the organisation to develop in the desirable direction. Another, and closely related challenge, is how to ensure that the strategies chosen are implemented throughout the organisation when controls are not coordinated or aligned. Concepts like integrated control, management control package, control mix and ERP systems are used to discuss these and similar challenges. The discussions are based on our own experiences and insights as well as research findings.