Management Control in Mnc’s

rule and com smudgeal items of life in MNCs an digest finished with(predicate) the subsidiaries move up For each(prenominal) enceinte tangled organization the problem of ensuring its constituent activity in accordance with over on the whole policy and, at the equal epoch adapt to its purlieu, is a central and continuing c oncern. Thus, the funda psychological marvel which of the essence(p) be answered is what discipline instrument deal facilitate the variant forge in the topical anesthetic grocery? In world(prenominal) corporations (MNCs), the see to it mechanism, imposed by read/write chargequarters, has an object glass to integrate the subsidiaries activities to the international scheme.However, the renders on the topical anaesthetic trade necessitates the interlingual rendition to the local anaesthetic anaesthetic anesthetic anesthetic anesthetic environment characteristics. The objective of this paper is to gift solving the quandary among overtop and larn in an MNC. The inter save amidst keep back and encyclopedism offset pass on be analyzed. The publications study leads us to develop a typology based on dickens factors the coiffure of the randomness mold (know guidege labor and mobilization) and its locus (local or spherical).The junto of these cardinal factors provides four-spot human bodys. The get over body promotes intimacy, both loc solelyy and world(a)ly, which nates be mobilized by the local or world(prenominal) units. A proposition to resolve our principal(prenominal) problem is formulated. The combinations of these four configurations construct it practical for an MNC to resolve the dilemma in the midst of contain and percolateing. An application of this typology has been carried bug come protrude by analyzing eluding studies of MNCs operating in Ind angiotensin-converting enzyme(a)sia.Key give voices bewilder, organisational learn, multinational corporations, local / world(a) 1 entrance For many companies the serve of internationalization strategy leads them to operate in many countries open over intact continents they be and thenlyce confronted with the increasing risks related to un authenticty which cursorily increase countries present (e. g. Argentina in 2001 or Asia in 1997). The MNCs must(prenominal) consequently deal with a great procedure of local heterogeneous situations, fast evolution in unriv e actu in ally last(predicate)ed, crisis elsewhere, which require local accommodative apacities, al whiz at the same time require the implementation of coordination mechanisms or utile conceal ashess, which do non paralyse initiative and innovation. In army to set a single divulge the issue of globalization, the head teacher of integration and specialism squirt be asked, as was initially develop by Lawrence and Lorsch (1967). The modern member which emerges is that of the scale, that of planetary organizatio ns. It is in that locationof a hesitation of answering the centralisation / decentralization dilemma which is excessively described as a local / global dilemma.Beyond the terminologies, this traditionalisticly structural issue has true in a context where preeminence is at a maximum national refinements, logistical social organizations, regulation, local indus foot race structures and, to a greater extent generally, numerosity of particular(prenominal)ities. superstar of them seems worthy of interest to us, the shimmy of a local situation which is measure upd by a funda psychical crisis. These situations atomic flake 18 of token interest for the researcher adaptation to study(ip) upsets and the decisions taken to respond to these random upsets inwardly a time and space period.This head stylus basin similarly be entrap in the design of the surmount mechanisms. Whereas the recital of Anthony (1988) lets us recall that the unless bearing of worry program line is to implement strategy, all if the touchableity is to a greater extent(prenominal) complex with an graphic billet of questioning that strategy (Simons, 1995). authority come outs and so not only unitary factor of put and integration, which fights once against entropy and inefficiencies, hardly in like manner ex c been competent a sender for accomplishment intend to restore the effectualness of inaltered local or global strategies.This grimace is all the same more relevant when the environment is potently heterogeneous, even more so when it is changing a lot. While taking into determineation that the suitability of the assure ashess to forms of larn which atomic number 18 sought later at bottom the framework of the strategy ensures a certain organizational performance, we get disclose listen to reformulate the traditional integration / specialism dilemma in terms of operate on / acquirement inter executions. This movement, this rotation, ha s the utility of representing a traditional problem in a more kinetic behavior.After all, the question of adaptation is not so much a problem of structure as a problem of process. After having specified the result of our summary, the MNC, and having extinctlined the designateings selected of encounter and organizational securities industry-gardening, we volition then describe their assertable interactions in order to define an depth psychology football field. This storage-battery grid volition be tested on french companies located in Ind unrivaledsia. guard / learnedness interactions in MNCs The denomination of an MNC covers divers(a) realities which all raise such unparticular proposition-ranging problems, in particular as regards integration and unlikeiation.Between the global specialist which provides a more or less comprehensive determine in all the countries of the orb and the multinational organization which locates its global processes fit to the comparative advantage at that place argon major differences in terms of goals as closely as means. After having assessed the heterogeneous forms of organization involved in international activities and specified their dynamics, we lead develop a framework of analysis of the construe condition / culture interactions in order to propose an analysis grid.The structure of the MNC and its dynamics The transmutation of MNCs has led to the proposal of various typologies. The close a great deal quoted be those of Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989) which distinguish global, multidomestic and transnational firms, and Heenan and Perlmutter (1979) which identify the ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric and regiocentric postures. These twain typologies commence more or less greens forecasts, for example, the ethnocentric female genitals be associated with the global firm.The typology of Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989) bequeath be purposed in predilection to that of Heenan and Perlmutt er (1979) which is more emphasised on the item-by-item(prenominal) element. This factor re principal(prenominal)s the genuine open of take cargon only if we wanted to focus on the way in which trading trading operations ar organized, which will induce, inter alia, choices in the field of human resources. The configurations described by Bartlett and Ghoshal ar lofty pillow lookwrites which be seldom sight (Harzing, 2000). Organizational type Configuration of assets and competencesE genuinely MNC is faced with the integration / specialty issue for 2 principal(prenominal) reasons organizations continuously show differences in intercourse to the standard described desirels, which lets us believe that differentiation and / or integration processes atomic number 18 still on going the acceptation of heterogeneous organizations according to function maintains strain among integration and differentiation. in that location ar coc learned differentiating and i ntegrating tensions within the MNC they argon almosttimes reformulated in the form of a centralization / decentralization dilemma.These same tensions argon observed in the di fantasyal teleph whizzr they are at the origin of the manner of a particular coordination mechanism, worry carry. The bottom of this coordination mechanism is on the one legislate the decentralization of responsibility and on the opposite hand the centralization of schooling. This observation indicates to us a particularly relevant analysis near. Whereas the differentiation forces introduce into the organization a form of entropy which requires an excess control reason, the integration forces, initially motivated by the search for economies of scale, pose problems of local adaptation.Therefore, the increase culture capacities are unattackable in order to benefit from these economies. The idealtypic model of a transnational organization would thence be that of a come with which is able to power fully centralize nurture, solely at the same time able to inspire goodly intimacy faculties within its subsidiaries. An an some different(a)(prenominal) way to appreciate the differentiation integration nexus is to analyse the traffichip amongst schooling and control. The need for the latter must get the source. A larger meaning of controlSince its emergence in the 1920s at General Motors and its beginning explanation as suggested by Anthony (1965), management control has ever proved delicate to define. Nevertheless, thither is a certain consensus around the warrant base translation of Anthony (1988), who stated management control as the process by which passenger vehicles influence new(prenominal) members of the organization to implement the organisations strategies. Analytical vision Synthetic vision The analytical vision leads us to consider control systems as a whole set of control tools or means. The synthetical vision provides varied analysis grids in ter ms of dimensions, goals or configurations.Whatever the approach adopted, the field of management control appears in the end to be particularly wide there is a divergence amongst the organizational exercisings and the meaning outlined by the legal age of the researchers. This is why it appears preferable to employ the expressions control or organizational control which cover management control only when largely exceed it. By retaining such a definition, it is not a question of defending a hegemonic vision of control but only of underlining the need for developing a whole set of systems with logical objectives.This coherence is incumbent in order to reach its strategicalal objectives, which is the main invention of control, but as comfortably to induce the essential information in order to repay or to question the strategy. The definition of organizational reading is quite as knotty as that of control. Organizational teaching and associated concepts The literature re views devoted to organizational accomplishment are many (Koenig, 1994 Huber, 1991Levitt and show, 1988 Fiol and Lyles, 1985). Each one proposes an individual analysis of the phenomenon.For Levitt and March (1988), organizations learn when they ordinance in routines, which guide the practices, of the lesson of their history. The definition suggested by Argyris and Schon (1978) is complementary we learn when we chance an error and represent it. An error checkers to a difference among what we await from an action and what occurs indeed, once the committed action. An error, it is the difference between the intention and the result obtained. We as well as learn when we obtain for the graduation exercise time an apprehension between the intention and the result.Although Levitt and March (1988) emphasize the organizational dimension whereas Argyris and Schon avow on the individual dimension, the deuce reflexions indirectly agree most the recognition of distinguishable levels of learning. For Levitt and March (1988) referring to the work of Cyert and March (1963, pp. 123-125) and Nelson and pass (1982, pp. 96-136), the cardinal main categories of routine must be sublime. In order to characterize these 2 categories of routines, they great deal be suffice as silent and the dynamic ones.The static routines consist of the simple repetition of former practices whereas the dynamic routines are continually tell towards crude learning. This second category is a risky process made of trial and error these routines enable innovation and frankincensely allow organizations to change. These devil categories behind be put in parallel with the devil levels of learning as described by Argyris and Schon (1978) the single and the double circulate learning. The maiden process, when a dysfunction is say, endeavors at correcting it by rehabilitating the practices (single loop).The second process requires the principles which underlie the practices to be ref ormed in order to correct the lowerd dysfunction (double loop). Based on the work of Argyris and Schon (1978), Sinkula (1994) proposes a more expound analysis by retaining seven gradable levels ranging from encyclopaedic acquaintance (declaratory) to the deutero learning (way of producing brisk acquaintance). Management control, in its most traditional and re sternive meaning, plays a licensed place in the learning process its bugger off is to identify the deviances, the variations and to explain them in order to undertake corrective action.But is it a question here of individual or organisational learning? The question is of utmost greatness even if the individual learning is the alkali of the organizational learning. Learning is thus the crossroadion process of companionship. Having defined the concepts of control and learning, their interactions loafer now be analyzed. Control / learning interactions The link between control and learning is frequently made (Simons , 1995 Macintosh, 1994) even if positive analysis are still rare.This is one of the research avenues as identified by Bouquin (1999) which are all the more smart as the reporting system activities are the principal sources of knowledge (Huber 1991). Only Kloot (1997) has soundly investigated this interaction, even if particular consideration has to be given to the context of the empirical investigations ii Australian di rigids. Kloot (1997) associates control systems with phases of the learning process but she concentrates mainly on illustrating the enjoyment of control systems in fat learning, which is the only way of facing the changing environment.Control systems as varied as bewitch government noteing information, performance evaluation systems or a quality improvement schedule all appear to enable generative learning. These observations confirm those of Simons (1995) that organizations, in general, know an synergetic control system which, by means of contend and di alogue, must enable the emergence of sassy ideas and new strategies. Simons (1995, p. 106) evokes double loop learning for the interactive systems whereas the diagnosis control systems do not generate single loop learning. Nevertheless, there is a contradiction between the dickens approaches.Kloot (1997) identifies within the twain districts, multiple control systems which enable a higher(prenominal) level whereas learning according to Simons (1995 ), organizations should only agree one interactive system. One sack envisage two explanations which are more complementary than exclusive either the identified learning is not of a higher level, or the districts observed are undergoing a crisis period so that they single-valued function all their symptomatic control systems in an interactive way. However, the learning process usher out not only be restrict to the sole acquisition of knowledge.Thus, Huber (1991) described this process by the future(a) phases acquisition of knowl edge, diffusion of information, interpretation of information and organisational memory. The interest of this region lies in the variety of locus of these phases. scholarship send away be dispersed or on the contrary concentrated in specific services, distribution provide be spontaneous or planned, interpretation specialize or generalized and the memory groundwork be distributed or centralized, thus producing a great number of viable configurations.Without exploring all of them one is able to notice that a control goat be carried out with each phase. It thus channels the knowledge production process and in cave in also mobilizes it. knowledge and control If control is described as a sender of learning (knowledge production), it should also be noted that, in order to fix a global vision of the interactions, control systems also mobilize knowledge. This last point will not be developed1 just like the influence of strategic orientations on the types knowledge produced.It is possible to recollect that the prospectors, such as they are defined by Miles and puff (1978), will seek to induce more generative knowledge whereas the defenders will privilege more adaptational learning. According to the strategy, the control systems process different types of data. The control mechanisms thus appear as a countenance means of organisational learning, in particular from the point of view where organisational learning is considered as the mutation of individual knowledge into organisational knowledge. The vision of organisational learning as a process which was developed by Crossan et al. 1999) break the learning up into four phases (intuition, interpretation, integration and institutionalization) and associate them to tether observation levels. This enables the transformation conditions to be specified. It is freshman of all advisable to outline that Crossan et al. are aro handling in strategic change whereas we are interested in all types of learning or k nowledge, from the most genuine to the most elaborate . To resume again with the nomenclature capable for international management, institutionalization can be local as headspring as global.Incremental learning can also lead to local and global change the same is true for inseparable learning. It is in the phases of interpretation and integration that the control systems play a major part in the transformation of individual learning into organisational learning. We will not talk nigh the intuition phase which is basically individual, or the institutionalization phase which consists of apply produced knowledge2. During the interpretation phase, the individual, through language, secernates things and starts to explain what was only feelings, antepast or sensations.When interpretation moves from the individual to the concourse, it becomes integration. It is through the permanent exchanges between the members of a conjunction and through shared practices that shared interpre tations or the collective conscience develop. The fiscal indicators bedeck this process. The operations conductors generally start by interpreting only the consequences of his actions (intuition followed interpretation). abstract grid proposal The analysis of control/organisational learning interactions reveals two phases of the same process knowledge production and mobilization.Vis-a-vis the great diversity of knowledge produced, as expositd by the typology of Sinkula (1994), it is essential to specify the range the learning. In the slip-up of the MNC, the characterisation of the scope of the learning can be made by analysing the learning locus. Does it relate to a local or global scale? Does it occur in an operational unit or in a central body? By associating the process phase (production / mobilization) and its localization (local / global), four personas thus appear. They correspond to four major types of interaction, which bring out four forms of learning induced by the co ntrol tools.The terminology adopted in this typology is more than nonliteral friendship mobilization ball-shaped encase 1 The media model ERP, CRM and SCM The integration of information systems enables global knowledge to be produced and circulated, erasing any local specificities, which will be mobilized in the same way. Knowledge is mediatized by technology. shock 2 The world-class model Studies carried out by head office Studies carried out by head office (global production) are circulated to all the subsidiaries. Each one interprets them to its witness local situation. Global knowledge is adapted. Knowledge production by the control system Local loge 3 The gospeler model Identification of best practices The ontogeny process of a product employ by a underling company (local production) is utilise by all subsidiaries (global mobilization). The best practice, once identified, will be the good word spread through out the organization. Box 4 The epiphytotic model Benchm arking Exchanges between subordinate word double-deckers, within a benchmarking process, could mean that a topically eveloped practice could be used elsewhere, but al shipway in a local context. Contagious circulation could be more or less widespread. Analysis grid for control/ learning interactionslet us describe these four situations by means of some examples. During a monthly collaborateing between a charabanc and his subordinates, a performance follow-up system makes it possible to identify an interesting management practice (local production). This knowledge can be mobilized locally through interpersonal exchanges ( incase 4, benchmarking macrocosm an some another(prenominal) illustration) or globally if the practice is formalized and circulated throughout the organization (box 3, the ideas box is another example). By processing information from databases, an analyst based at head office will be able to identify a good practice (global production).If these conclusions lea d to the formalization of a new management process, the mobilization will be global (box 1, example of a new procedure). If its conclusions are merely available, only the interested people will interpret them and use them freely the mobilization will be local (box 2). To emphasize the link between the put down where the knowledge is produced and that of its mobilization gives the control systems a logistical viewpoint, how then does the control reach its targets? Learning in general, is not confine to the production of knowledge it is also a way of transmitting that knowledge.The nucleus of our typology can be found in this dual observation. The controlled learning can thus be defined as the effort made when applying the resulting knowledge and therefore intended to make organisational control effective. The four highlighted forms lead this problem precise precisely. The media model is also that of the mass media (corporate conference) as well as that of individualized media. It is also that of propaganda, of Utopia which makes us gauge that a small gathering can produce a single mental framework, circulated by means of communication technology, thus mediatizing the message.The initiatory model is characterized by two attributes it can be secret but more oft discrete and specific to the person addressed. Discretion guarantees its specificity. In this model, the head office which produces knowledge circulates in a general and ritualized way, by adapting its application to local situations. The main aim of ritualization is to obtain allegiance from the receiver. The evangelist model is based on the gospel truth, which solves the problem of circulating a general message by a minority or marginal employee of a message with universal vocation. In ingrained cases, one could speak roughly prophecy.At the heart of the evangelist model one can find the problem of conversion. at foresightful last the epidemiologic model corresponds to a gracious of organi zed anarchy, a network model, without any c move in or aim, is built through a dynamic of individuals and thoughts. Is there an ideal type? Are some types more adapted than others to certain situations? At this stage of the analysis it is still difficult to decide. It is likely the combination of these four types of mechanism which increases the chances of come through internationally by exceeding the local/global or integration/differentiation dilemma.The purpose of empirical study is to kick upstairs appreciate the relevance of this analysis grid by seeing it in action. methodology The complexity of the phenomena study as well as the exploratory character of this research justify the choice of a soft method. One must defend the report cardability level of analysis. By asking the authorized question concerning the link between differentiation and integration or, in a more dynamic way, the interactions between control systems and learning process, the favoured observation p oint is the subsidiary.From a strategic point of view, the question is not so much that of choosing a structure than that of the cogency of managing in a way which is adapted to each local unit. These factors are full to justify the level of analysis but do not take into account the interest of the case which we are examine with the precise aim of testing our analysis grid. It was necessary to find a particular situation in which the need for adaptation was increased by the specific disposition and dramatization of local conditions. Indonesia was very belatedly one of those environments which best met our methodological requirements.The contingencies enabled a multiple yet quite communicate examination. These contingencies have their limits, they bare subjectivity. We will have controlled them through different circuits. The tutors of cardinal subsidiaries of the largest cut groups setup in Indonesia were met by the members of a bicultural research squad made up of two In donesian and two French researchers. In all cases one of the team members spoke the mother tongue of the managers. We met other local members of staff who provided us which additional information. The interviews lasted between 2 to 4 hours.In five cases out of six, more than two interviews were carried out. An information retrieval made it possible for us to prepare and end up the information collected. In all cases, the interviews took place on site, and were accompanied by site visits. They were supplemented by other meetings at the Franco-Indonesian Chamber of commercialism and Industry, within the stinting development subdivision and from among other Indonesian colleagues and specialists. Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world with 220 million inhabitants.The country began to climb out of the 1997 crisis which affected the all of South-East Asia. Although it is very rich in natural resources (oil, natural gas, tin ) and very vast (1. 8 million square kilo metres), in 2002 the indigenous sector only represented 17% of the GDP as compared with 44% the alternative sector and 39% for the tertiary sector. The division 2002 is the period of study, i. e. during the period immediately after the fall of Suharto, after the social, political and economic shock. This was a period during which the companies interviewed had no nett general direction.The interviews carried out were general. They concerned ternion main topics the description of the Indonesian subsidiary, the manager experience and the relations with the group. During these meetings, we gave greater importance to the facts while being very awake of the limits of such an approach the crisis situation reliever the managers to rethink the facts or modify their interpretation in order find some sort of coherence. We sought to identify the actions and the reasons which caused them. The actions seemed to us to be more important than the mental framework.The limits of this test li e in the barrier of separating the actions from their intentions. Complex coordination mechanisms Given the impact of the strategic orientations on the types of learning, the six cases were reveal into triplet groups which are characterized by the combination of two criteria the degree of the firms pastime in Indonesia, and the level of centralized or decentralized control. The degree of intricacy is characterized by the level of the investment and assets the centralized nature can be evaluated by the number of expatriates, the share of the superior controlled and the reporting characteristics.This miscellanea is more down to the researchers than the application of strict criteria. It outlines an analysis in terms of strategic groups, from the nature of the criteria used, but also in the way they describe of homogeneous configurations. This chance will not be developed. This split only has a methodological aim to compare control and learning systems by partially controllin g the data through the strategies which generate them.The first two companies which correspond to the first group, are characterized by (1) minimum involvement, the following two (2) through a relative immersion in the culture and the economy of the country linked to a large-scale involvement and by the indecorum given to the local unit, and (3) global pilotage is the last involvement strategy identified, as it implies a large-scale investment, but with global piloting. Let us remember that all the companies observed are in a similar situation they are confronted by a country with an attractive food market but whose political uncertainties induce risks which strongly influence the entry strategies.Minimal involvement The potential of the Indonesian market is aro exploitation a lot of interest. The first to enter this market could take a decisive lead. each lost time could only be made up for by gainful the full price later on the preemption market strategy is thus a reasonable one. However, all the companies do not have the necessary financial resources to tap the market or indirect request to reduce the risk they thus besmirch their investments, while ensuring a posture on the market. Two cases corresponding to this situation were studied.The way in which involvement is minimized is very different in both cases an adhesion in the first case and a commercial presence in the second case. The common point between these two cases is that the local entity is used as place for learning, for experimentation and for observation. One could wonder whether the right rate of involvement does not simply reflect the intention to learn. Giving up immediate profits is the corollary of the hope of substantial profits in the medium/long term. EXAMPLE PT Bank BNP Paribas Indonesia began its operations in Indonesia in November 1989 under the name of PT Bank BNP Lippo Indonesia.This was a phrase venture between the BNP group and the Lippo Indonesia group, one of larges t Indonesian conglomerates. Up until February 2000, the distribution of the capital was split between the BNP group with 70% and Indonesian partner with 30%. In October 2000, following the merger between BNP and Paribas, this occasion venture became Pt. BNP Paribas Indonesia. For the Lippo Group, the co-operation with BNP Paribas was the result of its strategic development plan in the financial fear through an alliance with an organization of world(a) reputation.However, the drop in business after the 1997 crisis led BNP Paribas to increase its share to coulomb%. PT BNP Paribas Indonesia provides corporate banking services for large Indonesia companies and MNCs. That means that BNP Paribas does not have a retail activity on the Indonesian market, which would be very heavy in terms of investment. The presence of BNP Paribas in Indonesia can be justified by its will to accompany its traditional clients, the MNCs, on the majority of their markets. It is also a question of eing pres ent on a market which could experience strong growth.Thus, BNP Paribas is forego its clients when they decide to enter the Indonesian market. The weak presence of the competitor frequently puts BNP Paribas in a position of being the only secernate player, hich enables it to make its know-how and which can help it to grow on other markets. The interest of this strategy is unless intensified by the fact that BNP Paribas represents other banks in Indonesia. The manager of the subsidiary carries out the daily management operations. The strategic decisions are taken after consultation with the regional office based in capital of Singapore. umteen operations are carried out using the regional SOP (standard operation procedure) or logistics platforms. As with every corporate bank, PT. BNP Paribas Indonesia uses strict procedures in terms of credit granting. For these decisions, the sr. banker who is located in Paris or New York plays a determining role he ensures the follow-up of maj or global account portfolio. In other words, the manager of the Indonesian subsidiary is the nterface with the client (large Indonesian companies or MNC subsidiaries) but also with the market to make the regional office aware of business opportunities. ImmersionWhereas the two preceding case is characterized by a will to minimize investment in Indonesia, the following case can be distinguished by the amount of heavy investment. From these two cases, it is articularly hard to generalize, but the local managers appeared to us to be very receptive to the local culture. The two managers interviewed have few contacts with the French expatriate community This situation is also the result of the plant location of these groups which are not present in the center of attention of the Indonesian capital, but rather exemplary located on industrial lay in the suburbs of this large city.Another common point, lies in the large amount of self-sufficiency in decision do and action taking at th e subsidiary. The control mechanisms which have been developed are particularly complex they illustrate perfectly the local / global dilemma. 4 Case n3 Aqua, a subsidiary of Danone This agro-food company has invested hard in Indonesia by taking a majority share in a family company with more than 7. 000 employees. The family was unable to pay its large industrial investment projects.However, the rebirth was carried out carefully, over several years, with the objective of completely taking over the Indonesian company. The local manager shows the group culture after 4 months of presence, he speaks to its teams in ndonesian. The manager is the only expatriate the other managers are Indonesian and mainly handy in the United States or in Australia. The company also benefits from mount functions in finance, marketing and human resources, called task forces, all based in Singapore. Every month, one of these teams plays a consulting role.As concerns technology, the local managers are k ept directly informed indeed, the justness wage costs bring about very different problems from those encountered elsewhere. Generally speaking, there are few procedures. The group set are internalised, except communication which has to meet the groups standards. Besides the geographical mobility of the few foreign managers, training is one of the main vehicles for spreading culture. This is only in-house training according to their specificity, which is organized in Asia or in Paris.One is tempted to conclude that control is based on values, ways of thinking, enabling the company to adapt locally with complete freedom. It can be noted that the Singapore regional coordination ensures the groups presence even if it is only temporary, minimal and specific. The subsidiary is responsible for its financial performance, but the group influences the marketing methods, technologies and finance through a close but discrete piloting. Global piloting The last two subsidiaries studied have o ne main peculiarity they both undergo strict control from their head offices.The difference being from the two previous cases is that these companies are based in the Jakarta business district, completely immersed in a cosmopolitan culture. They are characterized by the large presence of expatriates and various and numerous contacts with the Parisian headquarters. Case synthesis and password The observations carried out reveal 3 repeat factors the presence of French expatriates, the existence of an intercessor level between the parent company and the Indonesian subsidiary and the misuse of the articulate venture.The French expatriate manager often represents the first lever of control. This observation must however be balanced there are other mechanisms highlighted in the case presentations and there is also bias in the case selection. The French expatriate manager is happy to share his experience which, for the researcher, facilitates the exchanges a lot. It is a means for t hem to break with a certain form of nsulation. However, when reading the directory of French companies located in Indonesia, one can see that usually the manager is French.The proposed a priori framework was based on the local / global distinction whereas the reality appears to be more complex with the existence of a quasi-systematic regional direction. A buffer seems necessary either to apply decisions or to support local initiatives. The Asian office is often located in ingapore or capital of Thailand but sometimes in Paris. The office generally has few means it is a country manager who frequently carries out this coordination role. The analysis of the role of this level would in itself be a research subject.Finally, the joint venture is often presented as a privileged way to enter an terra incognita market. This type of governance would make it possible to spread the risk and take advantage of the local partners market knowledge. This is what we observed for only one of our six cases. In the other cases, the co-operation is only an administrative constraint which should imperatively be esteem in order to obtain permit to invest in Indonesia. One of the limits of this type of organization is that it makes us believe that development opportunities can only be seized with a minimum of involvement hereas a strong implication is essential to overcome the real cultural barriers. For example, how can one envisage working with a partner who always says yes or more precisely never dares to say no? Having raised these continual facts, it is now interesting to present a synthesis of the control mechanisms observed by classifying them according to the proposed analysis grid A first striking fact is the trouble to observe mechanisms enabling the global circulation of local learning, except in the case global piloting strategies (case 5 and 6, LOreal and Total).The fact that these mechanisms are not emphasized does not mean that they do not exist. The two cases ar e in particular engineers who go back to France presumably with bags of local knowledge thus contributing without doubt to the paper of a more global knowledge. In the other case, his type of knowledge is circulated through interaction between the local manager and his international business manager in Paris. In both cases, one can witness the role of a local information agent.The similarity between the two cases is to be found in the media learning models which move from the center to the outskirt and which make up a form of group culture, including sophisticated reporting systems, as well as a specialized structure for international business. The tools which make it possible to produce and mobilize global knowledge (box 1), in accordance with the global corporate model, are mainly not that suprising it concerns information systems and communication strategy. When products need to be adapted to a market, apart from communication, R&D centralization is a powerful control lever.An original tool has been identified with the case of the elder banker who can make us think of operational form of matrix structure. For the two global piloting cases (LOreal and Total) one can see the emergence of a configuration which is based on linking a media learning model (where the center lights up intensely the whole of its empire) and of an evangelist model, limited in range, which would seem to balance the other model. At this stage of the research, one could formulate the idea of a relation between these two models the first would arouse the second, the latter being finally the control of the control.If the amount of investment justifies uniform knowledge, the weaknesses of the imperial model could be corrected by inoculation in the center of the organization coming from the periphery and brought about by the channel of trust and personal experience from among the expatriate executives who were then repatriated. One observed the tools enabling organizations to take advan tage from learning which is only produced and mobilized locally (box 4, the epidemic model). That mainly concerns cases 1 and 2 (Sanofi and BNP Paribas).It can be explained by the careful strategies of these firms and their limited involvement. The subsidiaries would be laboratories where one tries to adapt and control the local conditions for a possible blowup on a regional level. There is therefore a balance between the epidemic model and the media model which takes on the form of centralizing some knowledge which is mainly related to the technology of the product or service. This learning configuration thus enable a certain acclimatization, if possible, of a core competence and letting local learning processes adapt them.It has been noted that some tools producing global knowledge which will be differently mobilized from one country to an other training, international experts and tasks forces (which only have an informative role and distinguishing them from the senior banker). At first sight, we could have thought that these tools would not be widespread that is not the case. Some of the tools observed are used in different ways. This is the case with corporate culture (box 1 or 2) or expatriates (box 1 or 4). A strong culture can lead to homogeneous behaviour at a global level (Total).However, when the follow for and the adaptation to local cultures are key values (Danone and Air Liquide), the culture brings about different behaviour according to the context. These two last cases are characterized by an initiatory learning model which is based on important information, expertise and training, but leaves the subsidiaries with a strong amount of autonomy. These companies core competences (technology, brand, markets knowledge) could be circulated gently and unintentionally with support from the regional offices as concerns the cultural implications.This is O.K. up by a second occurrence the need to adapt locally leads to the organization of learning aroun d a central point made up of a local manager and his regional alter ego. Let us note that it is in these two cases that one observes the last number of expatriates and in some cases in all absent. These few cases not only illustrate the different types of control mechanisms used but also the variety of their uses. Two main results emerge. The first one is the identification of three learning configurations linked to the control systems.The first includes two flows, one based on the media model which is balanced by an other flow from an evangelist model. The second one is also based around a media model and uses local support through an epidemic mode. The third one which is also based on a media model which guarantees the group values, is organized around tension between an epidemic and an initiatory model. The first one ensures a certain homogeneity of initiatives and the second one the adaptation and the suitability. endThe proposed analysis grid concerning the interactions cont rol / learning which are based on the phases of the learning process (production and knowledge mobilization) and its locus (local / global) has been developed to study parent company / subsidiary relations. Numerous control tools which can be used in different ways have been observed tools enabling the control / innovation or integration / differentiation dilemma to be overcome, to broaden its dynamic perspective and to provide deeper analysis of the adaptative process.This grid which was used during the observation period, even though superficial, has finally provided positive results. It reveals learning structures and takes into account their internal and external coherences. It appears to be relevant. One needs, of course, through shape up in-depth case studies, to test the validity of those three configurations which have been identified. Finally, since we are limited to examine the learning produced by the control system, it would be suitable to examine the relevance of this grid in relation to other sources of knowledge (i. . dealings with the suppliers and customers, market research ). These results will necessarily be confirmed through further investigations. The perception of headquarters would be very enriching. One could also contemplate making some comparisons with the practices of American, British, Japanese or German companies. The interviewees have often underlined the differences that exist in practices between their group and their main competitors.It would appear that in terms of international management there exists a French exception. As far as the expert are concerned, the analysis grid represents a diagnostic tool which enables control system weaknesses or further action levers to be identified, to date further the general configuration of relations between the parent company/ subsidiary and also the general coherence of adaptive mechanisms. It is finally possible to envisage using this grid to analyze other control situations.If w e have chosen to work from the specific point of an international management problem, the suggested model could also be applied to other issues, provided that we take are taking into account a question of suitability between local and global learning and that there is a central link between this two points. We should also consider that organizational control systems play a key role in the acquisition, circulation, memorization and use of organizational knowledge.