Management Control as Strategic Dialogue—A Memoir

The chapter summarizes the forces that shaped management control over the last half-century, based on the author’s work as an educator, author, consultant and researcher. While many of the fundamental issues of organisation life remained the same, conditions changed. Methods that became influential later were proposed already in the 1970s, for instance multicriteria targets and mobilizing local knowledge in large organisations. Change has been slower and more gradual than expected then, and he believes some of the advice given in the 1970s could have made our ride during the next half-century less bumpy. Since 1970 strategic management control has emerged as the key process for coordinating decentralized action, supported by the simultaneous development of information systems. Its contribution to success rests on strategic dialogues, leading to shared views on tasks and expectations. They need to combine facts and credible assumptions into narratives supported by evidence. Convincing scenarios will make organisation members eager to contribute their part to the journey envisioned in its strategies. Articulating beliefs, possibilities, and preferences during a strategic dialogue presupposes data on performance and future options. Metrics are central to this kind of control, and they need to connect these to vital aspects of strategy and environment.