Brian T. Bayliss

Strategic controllership—a case study approach

This paper examines the investment decision-making process within one British company, chosen as a pilot study in an on-going research programme looking at strategic investment decisions in British and German vehicle component companies. We then compare approaches taken in 11 other British companies and contrast those taken in 14 German vehicle component companies, on the basis of preliminary findings from research carried out over the last 12 months. Findings are discussed in the light of a completed 10-year longitudinal study of strategic developments in this industry, which additionally has involved 30 companies in Britain, and 30 companies (matched on a product basis) in Germany, the U.S.A. and Japan. The intention in this paper is to encourage further discussion, and to generate hypotheses which can be further tested through case study research. We conclude, albeit tentatively at this stage in our research, that an inappropriate balance is being struck by firms between the need for elaborate capital budgeting techniques and the need for a thorough strategic decision-making process. Senior financial staff, at least in the U.K., appear to need to take on a wide role as ‘guardians’ of an effective strategic investment-making process in order to ensure that decisions are made on cash flow projections, which are based on a penetrating understanding of relevant markets and competition and the associated order-winning criteria.

Financial or strategic controls?: An Anglo-German case study

This article examines a successful Anglo-German joint venture in order to compare approaches in the two countries when faced with the same strategic investment decision. The case uniquely illustrates some of the key contrasts found in a more extensive study of strategic investment decisions involving 24 British and 25 German vehicle component companies. This has been financed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, to whom a report is now being submitted. The contrast was pronounced. The German companys approach was primarily driven by strategic considerations both in respect to its investment decisions and subsequent control processes, and financial targets were explicitly played down; whereas the British companys approach was primarily driven by financial considerations on both counts. The German company has performed more successfully and its distinctive approach proved decisive in ensuring the success of this major investment. British companies may need to adopt a more strategic emphasis in the face of international competition.

Transnational Marketing Joint Ventures: A Viable Market Penetration Strategy in the EU?

This article investigates the performance of EU-based transnational marketing joint ventures (MJVs) through a set of case studies. The results emphasise the instability inherent in MJVs, and in most cases instability reflected poor performance rather than the evolution of a successful venture in the foreign market. Companies were found to undertake MJVs in order to protect and control existing market positions in the foreign country rather than gain access. Little attempt was made to transfer knowledge and expertise between the partners. Under these conditions instability resulted in the failure of the parent company to achieve its primary objective: the protection of marketing assets in the foreign market. Exporters should consider mechanisms through which local expertise can be transferred within the MJV.

New Technology, Physical Distribution, and a Single EC Market

The most important new technologies in relation to the transport sector in the 1990s are developments in high-speed trains, combined transport, the Channel Tunnel, and telecommunications. However, the development and extension of these technologies as well as the development of a common market in freight transport within the European Community depends perhaps more upon political forces than upon economic rates of return.