Recycling hidden costs and renewing management control. Results from 2,300 company cases.
Résumé
This paper draws on some 50 years' experience of the ISEOR team, during which 2,300 companies and organizations have undergone intervention-research, enabling them to recycle part of the hidden costs measured in an initial diagnosis into value-added creation. From a management control point of view, these intervention-researches demonstrate that key tools and indicators such as hourly contribution to added value on variable costs enable more effective socio-economic steering, with greater sharing between management controllers and the operational line. Illustrations based on a hundred or so cases from small and medium-sized businesses show how this approach can improve economic performance in the space of a year. This revival of management control complements existing and dominant practices, but also calls into question certain operational and organizational practices that are not very effective in improving value-added on variable costs
