The history of the french tableau de bord (1885–1975): evidence from the archives

Abstract

The history of the tableau de bord in France has never really been written. This paper sets out to draw up a history using the archives of three large industrial companies – Lafarge, Pechiney and Saint-Gobain – as source material. This paper seeks to revisit the myth of the French tableau de bord as presented in a great many comparative management studies (typically, Tableau de bord vs. Balanced ScoreCard). This myth rests on more or less implicit assumptions regarding, for instance, the central role played by engineers in the emergence of tableaux de bord, the single and unified way in which this instrument is used in companies from top to bottom and, of course, its French specificity.