The controller in action- participative control here and now in product development processes

Abstract

This paper analyses a video recorded exchange in a product development management group with a specific focus on the controller in action. This specimen of data serves to illustrate how larger issues of strategy and structure can be captured in the micro processes of a team. It is found that the controller seems to attend to rule making at the interface between alliance partners rather than chasing cost reductions to meet target costs. The latter task is effectively delegated to the responsible engineers through the design of the project and its time schedule. While we usually think of the controller as representing the principal or at least serve in an agency setting these findings point to a role as rule designer, i.e., as designer of the context in which cost control takes place. Action, here and now, will focus on diagnosis and maintenance of that context.