Management Control

Information is a crucial resource for organizations. It enables managers to make decisions, evaluate options, formulate plans and monitor their implementation. The tools that enable this monitoring are therefore omnipresent in the work of managers, from the most strategic to the most operational levels of organizations. It is important to master them, to know how to use them, but also to identify their limits and potential dysfunctional effects. The course therefore presents the different tools of management control and performance management. It presents the principles and methods of cost calculation, how these calculations can be used to inform operational and strategic decisions. It also presents the tools used to guide and control financial (budgets) and operational (dashboards) performance. It aims to train skilful users who are not only capable of mastering the fundamental techniques and tools, but who are also able to interpret the results obtained, question the adequacy of the methods used, and assess the coherence between control and monitoring systems in one hand, and organizational objectives in the other. Because management control is a core function of management, all students interested in business or management can benefit from this course. However, this course should be particularly useful for those who are, or aspire to be, managers, management consultants, financial specialists (for example, controller, financial analyst, auditor), or human resource specialists (for example, personnel director, compensation consultant).