Abstract
In an increasingly global economy, corporations need to develop more and more an efficient and reliable management control system (MCS) in their home countries and also in their subsidiaries abroad. This study analyses the effects of an internationalization strategy on the management control system of a company. In a more precise way, we will focus on three points: the requirements for a multinational company to sustain formality, centralization of MCS and finally, the impact of cultural differences on MCS. To find an answer to our problems, we decided to develop an intended study (how a particular strategy affects MCS) through a single case study based on La Redoute. As we used a qualitative study for our research, we collected information through semi-structured interviews, from two persons working at La Redoute's headquarters in Roubaix. These interview data indicated that formality is required by international companies. In such firms, managers spend a lot of time on reporting and informal tools are usually neglected due to a lack of time and means. A right balance between local/global, centralization/decentralization of MCS is usually lauded; nevertheless this balance is not really implemented in reality.
