Performance management: the glocal approach for international groups
By Anne Calmet, Financial Performance Manager, Micropole
Mixing the advantages of a centralized solution with local customization possibilities is possible and even desirable.
Despite a laudable desire to grant subsidiaries a high degree of autonomy in the choice of their IT solutions, an international group is faced with irreducible constraints in terms of process harmonization, common management rules and tools for highlighting information asymmetries. Hence the need to find a compromise between rigid centralization and excessive autonomy. Mixed approaches have therefore been devised, reconciling as far as possible the advantages of centralized performance management solutions and local initiatives. This is known as the "glocal" approach, a term already widely used in marketing to designate the adaptation of products to different local markets, and reminiscent of the motto of the Porto Alegre anti-globalization forum: " Think Global, Act Local ".
A core model that can be adapted to local constraints
In short, the "Glocal" approach consists of defining and implementing a " core model " with a mixed team of representatives from the group and one or two pilot subsidiaries. Once operational in the pilot subsidiaries, the solution can be deployed in the other subsidiaries. At each deployment, a gap analysis allows the solution to be adapted, if necessary, to local specificities and to enrich the subsequent version of the core model . Skills specific to the solution, both functional and technical, will be centralized in order to pool them. However, local correspondents will be appointed and trained throughout the project and, once the solution is operational, they will be the first-level contacts for users in the subsidiaries.
Of course, since the core model has international ambitions, the application will have to be developed and documented in English - taking into account local languages as well as alternative languages if necessary. Since the solution is glocal, it is likely that the language of the project will be "globish", the somewhat approximate and simplistic version of English used by most non-native English-speaking international travelers.
An implementation approach broken down by management scenario
As for the project methodology, it can be classic or iterative ("semi-agile"). For example, an implementation approach that makes sense in management control projects consists of dividing the project phases by management scenario:
- Implementation of the realisation and realisation of one or two monthly closures with the users,
- Implementation of the general budget and support of users in the construction of their own budget,
- Implementation of the forecast and support of users in its development.
With this "semi-agile" method, at the end of the project, the subsidiary's management controllers actually carried out a complete management cycle using the solution, with the support of consultants. The platform contains a significant base of management results right from the start.
