Integrerat Performance Management System -En studie om ett ledningssystems påverkan inom Volvo

Abstract

The research within the management control systems-field and more specifically performance management has been rather shallow and not much has happened the last decades besides the balanced scorecard. The researchers see a lack of studies focusing on the effects of an integrated performance management system and also how it affects the different hierarchical levels and the tasks to perform. We decided to perform an essay with case study-characteristics by looking at both the strategic and tactical level at Volvo Group, or more specifically Group Trucks. We performed three different interviews, one at the group level and two at the division level. The aim was to see what effect an integrated performance management system had on the tactical level (i.e. the divisions). Our findings and corresponding analysis suggested that Volvo was a rather centralized company in order to get the performance management system to work by enabling a “weekly control”. The tactical level now lacked the overview and holistic understanding because of the need of having a function wise organization. Furthermore, incentives to restrict support costs were now weak as a result of this. On the other hand, Volvo had a very goal oriented organization with clear responsibilities and boundaries. Their performance management system was developed and functioned according to the theory. They also had a rather big involvement of the tactical level in the construction of the different components within the system. To conclude we see some clear effects of the integrated performance management system. Some direct effects of the organization but indirect of the performance management system are the decreased overall understanding of the business and a decreased mandate at the tactical level. A positive effect is the focusing on the core activities with a decreased level of “organizational noise”. Furthermore, the tactical level has low incentives to decrease certain indirect costs as well as an increased need of communication with the strategic level which could increase the administrative burden on the tactical level. For future research we suggest to make a more extensive follow-up study in a couple of years or a study on a company with the same characteristics as Volvo and a similar performance management system.