SOCIAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL AND BALANCED SCORECARD – [631427]

SOCIAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL AND BALANCED SCORECARD –
A DECISIVE BINOMIAL FOR THE ORGANIZATIONAL
PERFORMANCE

Abstract: This article raises the issu e of the design and the implementation of socio -economic
management control in a company, to help assistance social performance and measure its
impact on the economic performance.
From researches conducted in four companies from 2001 to 2004, the article d escribes the
issues of a control of the social performance based on a socio -economic management control.
The article also identif ies informational and organizational conditions for a lasting foothold in
the activity of a socio -economic management control.

Keywords : social performance, social management control, socio -economic management
control, creating value

JEL Classification: M19, M40

The economic performance has long been preferred by directors and the company
executives and as criteria for the assessment of the performance, to the detriment of the social
performance.
Management control models developed in the last twenty years, focused mainly on the
mastering of economic performance and measurement criteria of c ompetitiveness,
productivity and profitability (Naro 2004). However, theorists and practitioners now agree to
consider social performance as a strategic advantage, continuation of the resource theory
(Hamel and Prahalad, 1990). Management of social perform ance has become a major research
topic in the management control (Burlaud and others, 2004). In human resource management,
single configuration approach developed by Pfeffer (1995), Mac Duffie (1995) or Delery and
others (2005) study the effects of human resource practices on business performance.
In this context, the article proposes a socio -economic model control of management
focused on the social performance control and the extent of its impact on economic
performance. Initially, the article examines the existing models of management control and
positions the model of socio -economic management control, based on the theory of socio –
economic business (Savall, 1974, 1975, 1979).
Furthermore, the article examines the information and organizational conditi ons for
the implementation of this sustainable model, based on the research results from four
different companies, from 1998 to 2003. This study field seems relevant since many works
highlights discrepancies between the design and implementation of a man agement control
model, as is that of Clarke (1995), based on Activity Based Costing.
Moreover, the methodologies in the field are rarely used in the literature to address
assumptions that affect the economic, social and organizational domain (Decock, Good and
George,2003).

1. Theoretical Research Framework

The performance of an enterprise is multidimensional (Burlaud et al, 2004) and links its
social performance to the economic performance (Perroux, 1974). Traditionally, economic
performance appears in t he results presented by the accounting information system and
indicators of competitiveness, quality, effectiveness and efficiency. The analyze of social
performance is materialized mainly in terms of employees' satisfaction in the social field
(Savall, 19 74, 1975, 1979). Based on these definitions, we can conclude that an effective and
efficient social management of social performance requires the development of a model of
management socioeconomic control centered on coordinating social performance and
measuring its effects on economic performance.

1.1. Models of management control based on the mastery of economic performance

Naro (2004) shows that the management control models developed for about two
decades were based on the use of performance criter ia, economic criteria and its
competitiveness, profitability and productivity. Appropriate financial management control
mostly focused on increasing profitability, which was developed specifically in groups. The
main criteria used in this case is the retur n on investment and value creation for shareholders.
Value assessment methods based on the research of Copeland (1991), using the techniques of
economic value added (V AE) and the market value added (VPA) are particularly
representative of such a developmen t. This preference for economic indicators lies primarily
in their relative simplicity to the implementation of a process of evaluation of economic
performance.
V AE, for example, can be implemented in most enterprises without too many technical
difficulti es (Caby and Hirigoyen, 1997). Secondly, this dominant position is explained by the
importance of the classical paradigm of the enterprise, which is to maximize short -term profit

for shareholders. This paradigm, whose primary instrument is the accounting information
system (Dupuy, 1995) resulted in a performance that obscures the vision of the social and
strategic potential of the company. In a model of financial management control, employment
is more perceived as a cost, rather than as a strategic resour ce.
Naro (2004) also explains that models of management control based on approaches in
terms of channel value and competitive advantage developed by Porter (1986), remain
focused on the management of economic performance, even if they have a powerful
representation in work organization and human resource management. It's an example of
approaches in terms of accounting and management activities (Activity Based Costing,
Activity Based Management), the target costing method (Target Costing), the strategic
management of costs of Shank and Govindarajan (1995), the management control based on
empowerment proposed by Johnson (1992) and in France by Lorino (1995).
It is a management control oriented on seeking competitiveness based on coordinate
value -cost relatio nship. One of the features of this new system of management control is
linked to the place given to the actors in performance management. Johnson (1992) considers
that actors are the source of competitiveness, through their activities of creating value and
generating costs.

1.2. The request of the control of the social performance and the measurement of its
economic effects

The evaluation and control of the social performance seem to be a priori more difficult
because they are asking for a definition o f the subject studied and a method of evaluation.
When the social information systems exist in the enterprises, for example, to construct
the social balance sheet, it is often the embryonic stage. The social balance sheet remains a
tool not readable and v ery little useful for the management (Decock, Good and Georges,
2003).
Yet the management of enterprises is now looking to expand its criteria for assessment
of the performance. The recovery in the accounts of the quality and the involvement of the
human potential, for example, to better inform the goodwill, is the subject of research in
finance (Tournier and Tournier, 2002).
On these issues, the current of the theory of resources stipulates that employees of a
company constitute a competitive advantage difficult to duplicate for the competition
(Noguera, 2002); (Decock Good and Georges, 2003).
This theory has been mainly stimulated by the emergence in the field of strategy, of the
theory of internal resources made popular by Hamel and Prahalad (1990).
These authors show that the employees and the way they are managed play a crucial
role in the success of the organizations and are a source of sustainable strategic advantage.
For Huselid et al. (1997), the theory of resources contributes strongly to the
construction of the competitive advantage.
For Wright et al. (1994), human resources are potential all the characteristics of a key
resource: they are rare, create value, and are imperfectly imitate and difficult to replace.
For Kofman and Senge (1993), the speed at which organizations learn (implied more
quickly that the rival firms…) would thus be the only source of sustainable competitive
advantage.
Beer and Nohria (2000) develop an organizational concept of change called "Theory
O", based on the s trengthening of skills and on the organizational learning. They oppose this
new theory O to an economic conception of change called "theory E", based on the immediate
research for the creation of value for the shareholder, which does not leave time for the
enterprise to develop specific skills.
Amit and Shoemaker (1993) have shown that the development of specific skills in an
enterprise was the result of a fairly lengthy experience to acquire.

Kaplan and Norton (1998) also underlined the link between the motivation of
employees, the profitability of intellectual investments, intangible and tangible assets of the
company and the economic results. The concepts of an intangible capital, of an intangible
asset, knowledge capital, of intellectual capital, are c hallenging the shareholders (Cappelletti
and Khouatra, 2004).
The term of intellectual capital covers all forms of intangible resources as well as their
interaction and therefore depends strongly on the social performance (Edvinsson and Malone,
1999).

1.3. The social management control: concepts and tools

The last three decades are characterized by major changes in terms of organization of
the enterprises. One of these changes refers to the increasing number of failures caused by the
use of the taylo rism conception as a reference to the organization of work. The i ncreasing
number of failures led to the emergence and implementation of new models of business
management of personnel and new forms of organization. Such a change ha d no impact "only
by the disappearance of a production channel here or by the modification of administrative
tasks divided elsewhere. Abandoning the t ayloris t schemes meant also the propos al of new
ways of organiz ation of work, the motivati on of people, for piloting and control i n the
enterprise " (Martory, 2007).
The new schools and new theories of the organization of the enterprise have led to
changes regarding the labor and the conditions under which it is conducted, the emergence of
employees who want to understand and adhere to higher objectives before proceeding to
execution. These people are the promoters of decentralization in the enterprise and of
management by objectives. Information and control systems need to fold on this evolution
ensuring raw material necessary for t he functioning and communication with employees.
The quality of life during work is a major requirement of the employees and a major
concern for enterprises which is exceeding its bounds. Time management, the work rate and
all other forms of flexibility b ecome a permanent parameter of the production structure. New
employees want to secure themselves a multi -dimensional career, being interested in an
advantageous career path in terms of jobs occupied, training opportunities and pay.
All these changes must b e managed properly, with appropriate technical and control
instruments, some modified, others completely new. Also, the budgetary management of staff
is an indispensable tool to achieve these prospective approaches.
The changes that the management control had in the evolution of mentalities regarding
the work within the enterprise was a decisive factor but not the only one who generated them.
The growing complexity of the product range, the product policy of the company is no less
important in influencing the management control. The development range policy, necessary to
adapt products to the diversified needs of the customers, has led to a complex and
multifaceted production systems, where the execution and information flows are branched
and difficult to control.
Another factor that has had repercussions on the development of control is the
development of "no price competition" forms. Nowadays, i n the process of buying, the price
of the product has no longer a decisive influence. The c ompetition operates around the
product image and quality required by the company and is based on a set of services that
surround it, such as after -sales service, installation, various forms of assistance provided,
software etc. In a commercial sense, the fabrication of the "product" is operating less in
actual production and is increasingly more in its' external sectors. Naturally, the control must
adapt to these changes and evolve in these peripheral production activities, which is a decisive
element in the implantation of c ommercial enterprises.
Along with the traditional instruments of production control, it also must develop
coordination and control tools of peripheral services. The third factor which adds its influence

on the management control is the evolution of the so urces of performance . In the conception
of classic performance in terms of profit and margin it, is revealed the growing influence of
the cost of human resources in the total cost structure. The cost of employees is the essential
cost incurred by an enterp rise and represents the largest component exhibiting inertia.
Therefore, the basic condition of the development of the performance is the meticulous
planning of this cost and achie ving an optimal adjustment of the proportion between efforts
and rewards ob tained so that mobilization and involvement of staff to be at the highest levels.
The emergence of new systems of the organization was an appropriate response to
failures of the Taylorism and to the multidimensional changes of the enterprise 's environment .
The m ovement of human relations, the theories of human resources, the theories of human
capital, as well as the latest developments in the organization s' domain, revealed gradually
the importance of employees for the enterprise and the need to develop new formulas that
would attract, mobilize and involve them fully in the achievement of its objectives.
Things have now become more complicated and "long -term success depends not only
on intuition and strategies of the executive officers but also o n obtain ing and constant support
of the creativity and the contribution of everyone, regardless of whether they are responsible,
heads of service technicians, officials, warehouse -men or workers. " [Serieyx H, 2000]
If human resources are strategic, they are the m ost important because the y are carrying and
genera ting the majority of competitive advantages and, thus, they have to be managed. The
enterprise must implement systems and favorable methods to mobilizing them.
A positive development in this regard is th e ongoing enhancement of competence or
excellence through the development of appropriate training policies , whose budgets must
represent 10 -15% of payroll of the most active companies. This valuation translates into
practice the recognition of skills, main ly by designing remuneration systems that give
importance to the individualization and control mechanisms to track performance and
knowledge development. Thus , the objective is to be able to follow the progress of each
employee and each job through an adap ted information system.
Another way of mobiliz ing the employees is the recourse to a range of flexibilit ies,
respectively the development of skills to quickly respond to the developments of the
environment. In practice, this flexibility is achieved by the mobility of staff, a more smooth
management of rate work , time periods of work, of the systems of permanent adaptation of
the means of production to the evolution of the application. All these things require the
development of new procedures in the mana gement of the times and the containment of
employees and the means, which enrich and improve the control system. In the western
European countries, the budgetary instruments of social control integrate a monthly situation
of employees on the sub -units an d possibilities to monthly modulate the times of employment
in the productive establishments.
The mobilization of human resources is also achieved through the deepening of the
management at the level of small decentralized units , who have a relative aut onomy. In this
case, there are used systems of general control and tracking the completion of strategies in the
enterprise .
The major changes in the field of the enterprises' organization ha ve complicated its
management, its' information al system and the control which is accompanying them. In the
vision of the taylorist s, as in the movement of the human relations, the man was considered to
be a mean of production as any other, which does not pose any particular problems. Changing
the conception of man made more complicated the assembly of the instruments relating to this
important resources of the undertaking. The new problem was t o define new systems of
information and new ways of control, likely to support the management of the enterprises
faced with the new restrictions of the environment. The answers have come especially from
the analytical account ancy and supervision of the control m anagement.
As regards the evolution of the analytical account ancy, there are two poles of interest. The
first aim s to develop approaches that take into account the new ways of organization of

production . All the specialists agree that the direct labor can no longer be a reference in the
cost calculation since its share has dramatically decreased from 10 -15 % in the '80, to 8-10 %
in the '90 [Mevellec P., 1987]. The problem is that if it is possible to build a system of
collecting the technical data to enable the analytical account ancy to regain its legitimacy. The
answer to this problem is, inter alia, in the constructio n of the analytical accounting system
which would allow the determination of the assembly of costs by direct labor, but also with
all the forms of direct labor.
The second pole of interest refers to the development of methods and tools of the
analytical social accountancy . This branch of account ancy affects the determination of the
costs and of the social benefits using the information and methods of the traditional analytic
account ancy. At its base lie several cost approach, specific to the social or so cioeconomic
decisions, which constitutes one of the basic elements of the control system.
The change is happening first in t erms of information systems, which should take into
account the activities which are largely decentralized and take place apart fr om classic
schemes . Thus, information systems are removed from the logic of the calculation of
complete cost, the central model of the accounting plan.
Its' evolution translates in to correlative practices, named by specialists as "social control",
repres enting all the modalities of control of employees during their activities and o f
performance they register . As B. Martory (2007) claims , today, more than ever, it goes "from
the management control of the objectives -products and machines to the management control
of the activities and the people who support them."

1.3.1. The characteristics of social management control

The emergence of new attitudes towards work, new ways to organize and motivate
people, has imposed new forms of management and control. Thus, arose the social
management control.
In France, this trend began with the advent of social legislation on the balance sheet at the end
of 1970, which gave a strong impetus to research in order to identify social indicators and take
into consideration the human resources [Guerrero S., 2004] .Social management control was
strongly developed within enterprises, as an autonomic control system.
Recognition of the new status of human resources as a source of value creation and
competitive advantages favored the widespread use of social indicators in models of
management control. With the emergence of the concepts of corporate social responsibility
and sustainable development, the enterprises must develop indicators on their social
management.
By socio -econom ic management control we understand a process of control which
integrates, on the one hand, the economic variables (the entity's financial results, effectiveness
and efficiency), and on the other hand, the social variables (employee satisfaction). The
socioeconomic management control can be positioned within managerial control because it
integrates conceptual principles thereof, exposed to the fundamental theory of control and, on
the other hand, has some featur es in the design of means they propose and which aim the
improving social and economic performance of the organization.
The researchers of ISEOR (France) consider that in the enterprise 's management, the
power is the ability to achieve decisive effective acts in relation to the objectives of the
enterprise . The d egradation of energy is given by the depreciation of information, like the
wastage of human resources, technical and financial, which are an important part of the
hidden costs, and of adjusting activities of dysfunctions that affect enterpr ise performance.
Socio -economic management control developed based on the works of Savall (1974,
1975, 2003, 2008) integrates the works of Follet, Anthony and Simons and complements them
with a comprehensive and useful methodology.

The peculiarity of Savall's works is given by the fact that it aims the sustainable
development of the socio -economic performance of the company, based on the idea that
sustainability performance is not possible without a conciliation between social and economic
performance. T his fundamental hypothesis was taken -up by J.Pfeffer (2005), who is showing
that the social performance and the quality of management contribute decisively to the
economic performance of the organization.

1.3.1.1. The principles of social management contr ol

The n ew ways of organizing production as a result of developments in the external
environment and knowledge in the field have determined contingent ways of control. The
development of "social control" or management control of human resources is the answer to
the management systems to the specific problems of the new environment. Regarding its
principles, the new control favors the evolution of the older control methods towards more
complex and branched systems and in relation to the evolution of men talities and ways of
production.
From the point of view of the scope of its concerns and methods, the extension must
focus on tracking personnel costs and wage bill, control activities and tracking performance,
to the procedures used in other areas of man agement control, such as [Martory, idem] :
– Costing (hidden or visible) arising from the activities and the associated benefits;
– Ways analysis of changes in the wage bill;
– Monitoring individual performance, group subunits etc .;
– Construction of s taff cost budgets and analyzing gaps to the achievements.
From research conducted, we retain the definition of social management control given
by CEGOS Institute in France, which wants to identify its' coordinates: " Social management
control lies at the crossroads between social management, financial management and
management control. Its use constitutes a significant competitive advantage. The social
management control aims to reconcile financial restrictions and forecasting methods of human
resources ma nagement within the enterprise. It differs from classic management control and it
operat es in a different environment: people, activities, general relations established in the
enterprise. "
One of the most important theorists and practitioners in the fiel d, B. Martory believes
that social control is "one of the component s and one of the extensions management control. It
is a social support system for the social management of the organization, aiming to contribute
to the human resource management in terms o f their performance and costs [Martory,2007 ]”.
The definition given by this author refers to social management and social control
management .
The social management control is in the service of social management. The reality of
this type of control makes it possible to define its objectives and practices, which consist of:
a) the design, implementation and animation of an information system, i.e the definition and
implementation of databases and scorecard to track employees, their activities, performance s
and costs that they generate;
b) directing economic or socio -economic analyses that require a rational management, such
as the analysis of wage bill trends, of developments performance, the study of differences in
staff costs, determination of hidden soci al costs etc.;
c) transposition into objectives, predictions and decisions of the proposals arising from social
or socio -economic analyses. The aim of the s ocial budget under is to assemble all these
elements and integrate them into a coherent budgetary ap proach.
Social control management p romotes social piloting of a modern organization by
providing quantitative information on the items whose mobilization is the source of success,
namely its human resources.
In an attempt of conceptual classification, B. Martory define s social control

management as "socio -economic piloting of an enterprise, i.e. social pilotage, which concerns
human resources and economic pilotage, which concerns control specialists and financial
ones." The social control management decl ines itself around three axes:
 strateg ies and analysis in socio -economic terms;
 scorec ards and reporting to increase visibility;
 budgets for piloting the creation of value.
The first axis concerns the designation of targets, which can be social, such as the
absenteeism index, or economic, such as the variation of the wage bill. Considering the
current situation and the environment with an accentuated evolution, it can be designated an
ideal trajectory integrating socioeconomic information or budget score cards, management
tools etc.
Social control management consists of coordinate socio -economic analyses, which
declines strategies defined by business, marketing and industry. The issue of human resources
is focused on the mobility of people and of teams to which they belong, while the issue of
specialists in management control and financial are focused on optimizing jobs and resources
in order to maximize values.
Wage policy of a company, aims, generally three important objectives:
– security, through bas ic salaries, general increases and retirement schemes;
-motivation, using individual increases, bonuses and benefits in kind;
-association, using participation schemes.
Management should be careful not to exceed the 3 points of variation of the wage bil l,
which is a key variable level of financial and social balance of the enterprise. Social policy
instruments are related to hiring, departures, the changes in compensation and fluctuations in
activity, while the primary instruments of action on performanc e and promotion remain the
promotion systems and bonuses .
The second axis, " balanced scorecards and reporting for increas ing visibility" is a set
of such tools, specialized as follows:
– scorecards for tracking livestock and time;
– scorecard s for meas uring the performance of the collaborators and teams;
– analysis of staff costs;
– the pursuit of mobilizing people and teams.
Thirdly, social control management is part of the company's budget ary approach
without providing the latest ethnic news . He makes available to the management and financial
specialists information the most reliable possible. This budget ary approach concerns several
areas, namely:
– the budget of employees , who is interested in human resources compartment,
management c ontrollers, operational specialists and the departments of the enterprise ;
– the time budget, which concerns production specialists, managers and possibly
comptrollers and human resources department;
– the budget wage bill and social expenses .
The plann ing activity is particularly complex, and to conduct its best condition requires a
close collaboration between all company functions.

1.3.1.2. Levels and methods of social management control

The social management control has reached a satisfactory stage of development in
large enterprises in the western countries of European Union.
Strategic management control enables management to understand the nature of the
assumptions which determine on a long term and the activities and structures which are
consid ered the most capable of achieving the aims of the enterprise. The social management
control at strategic level concerns long -term option s taken by the management and direction
of human resources in terms of the structure of remuneration, development skil ls, increasing

social expenditures and choice of variants for process control i.e the structure and functioning
of the system.
The operational management control is the system that is inciting each responsible for
manag e the key success factors in the se nse required by the strategy, which enables it to
compare the conduct of it's action with the short -term goals and to identify the cause of
disagreements in order to deduce the nature of the measures to be taken . Its priorities are
concerning the implement ation and follow -up of provisions budgets of personnel expenses,
centralized management remuneration, the flow of employees and adaptation skills necessary.
All axes of action of social management control are using their own methods and approaches.
The fol lowing t able reveals the approaches and methods specific social management control
(table1).

Table 1 The approaches and methods specific social management control
STR ATEGIC LEVEL
Piloting development and great social
and economic balances in long term OPERATIONAL LEVEL
Piloting social -economic short and
medium term
Axis of action Steps -Methods Axis of action Steps -Methods
ORGANIZATION Evolu tion of the
organiza tion
Implement of
practices
SOCIAL
MANAGEMENT Individual
management
Tracking failures
Work conditions

JOB-
COMPETENCES Projecting skills
and competences
Human resource
planning
Training politics
RESOURCE
ALLOCATION
AND
DEVELOPMENT Management of
employees and
time management
Training
Management skills
and careers
FINANCIAL
IMPACT
WAGES FU ND Measuring social
costs
The evolution of
remuneration
Management of
Wage s-fund ECONOMIC
MANAGEMENT Payment
Remuneration
Budget of
personnel expenses
Wages -fund
Source : Martory B., Contrôle de gestion sociale, Vuibert, Paris, 2007, p.8

The field that has begun to empower about thirty years ago (Martory, 1999) ,
management control exists in an incipient form in most large enterprises.
In Romania, within the management control, it was practice d a solid budget of social
expenditure and remuneration and t here were important indicators of the line staff just before
the 1980s. In the '90s when the Romanian economy has entered a visible decline is
distinguished by the high priority these axes of action planning. Unfortunately, some time
after 1989, the manag ement control in general and the social management control recorded a
significant rebound in our country, amid the weakening of state property and the emergence of
the idea that planning is a socialist concept.
The p rocess of empowerment of the social management control continues today,
whether the reporting is based on its information system and its supporting responsibility. The
management control was achieved at financial function, human resources function, but also
in the other functions, whose struc tures were also involved in planning and tracking costs and
other specific indicators. Even today, t his situation has not changed much. The social
management control is practiced in the interest of more responsible employees , namely:
– financial officer s and officers of the treasury, which are interested in the monthly
payment of wages and the level of contributions and financial commitments represented the
wage fund;
– management controllers, as far as social control constitutes an overall control sys tem;

– decentralized officers, managers or subunits, which are assigned increasingly more
responsibility for managing the staff they have as subordinates;
-human resources departments, who most often have the responsibility of management
remuneration and prosecution of wage funds .
Another sign of social emancipation of social management control, which is a stand –
alone activity, is the emergence of new professions, the social management controller, and its
adequate jobs, especially in large enterprises. T his activity develops specific skills to the limit
between human resource management and financial piloting. Regarding the social
management controller, it fulfills an important role and has a complex mission that involves:
– social and administrative en sure compliance;
-ensuring social data processing and analysis assembly (budgets, studies, reporting);
-establishing and ensuring the production of social indicators and reporting;
-design, piloting and available wage fund;
-initiating the construction and ensuring the budget of human resources department ;
-enterprise development by measuring the impact on its administrative aspects and
salary;
-direct contribution to the implementation of an ambitious wage policy, in close
relation with the strateg ic objectives of the enterprise;
-providing the interface between the human resources and financial departments ;
-contributions to the development of human resources information system.
Another issue that continues today is the affiliation of the socia l management
controller. Reality shows that the organization's history, affinities of each specialist can lead to
a wide variety of solutions in sharing the tasks . Quite often this type of review is as follows:
-piloting wage fund and fixing remuneration shall be responsible for human resources
function and management;
-budgetary control activities, the salary expenses and performance is the responsibility
of management controllers , situated within the financial -accounting function.
In response to the pr oblem of the control of the social performance, authors such as
Martory (2001) study the concept of intangible capital and the key indicators of the social
performance. The authors favor the establishment of a social management control , tool of
management control (Burlaud et al., 2004).
The establishment of such a system requires the definition of indicators of the social
performance (Flat, 2003), the implementation of scorecards and organizational arrangements,
as in the case of management control.
Edvin son and Malone (1999), as well as Sveiby (2000), propose extra -accounting
indicators of piloting the social performance, to make it more alive and stimulating.
For example, the model of Edvinsson and Malone, implemented in the company
Skandia, decomposes the intangible capital in two branches: the human capital and structural
capital.
Edvisson and Malone offer a tool called the Skandia Navigator divided into five areas
which model the value of the intangible capital of the company: the finances, the cust omers,
the process, the renewal and the development, and the human resources.
These last ones are placed at the center of value creation scheme because they "irrigate" the
other four areas.
Due to the links between the intangible investment, the social pe rformance and
economic performance, Martory (2001) proposes to position the social management control as
a component of the management control. The management control then requires the
establishment of financial indicators, to monitor the survival of the c ompany, and of social
indicators on the motivation of the employees, to ensure the development of the company.
Martory shows that the social performance is appreciated on the short term according to
indicators of effectiveness (achievement of results) and efficiency (results/means), and on
long-term according to the quality of the social investments made (historical cost of

recruitment, the replacement cost for the effect of learning). He proposes to assess indicators
of social performance, by the five co mponents of the staff -mix: wage and social policy, the
social value of the employees, the climate and the social behavior, the parity relations, the
internal -external social image. These components are factors of human resources policy,
measurable by flash ing (for example the absenteeism and the turn -over for the component
climate and social behavior). Plane (2003) shows that the social management control imposes
to complement the accounting system by a scorecard of social pilotage including indicators of
the situation (for example, the employees) and of the movement (for example the rate of
growth of the number) of the employees.
To resume, it appears that the issues of an effective and efficient control of the social
performance today are of importance, i n order to respond to the imperatives of the creation of
tangible and intangible value. The analysis of social and economic management control
models carried out in this section calls for research on a socio -economic management control.

2. Research Method ology

The central hypothesis posed in this study is that the socio -economic management
control model is a possible answer to the problem of an effective and efficient operation of
social performance, balancing social and economic imperatives satisfactio ns.
Socio -economic management control based on the principles of socio -economic
organization theory is presented in this section, as well as the methodology of research –
intervention used to study the conditions for its implementation in a company.

2.1. The design of socio -economic management control

The socio -economic analysis model approximates the activity of an organization to the
equilibration of an active unit (Perroux, 1974). In assessing the performance of the activity
defined here, a socioec onomic calculation method of the hidden costs, meaning, not specified
costs, unmeasured and unmonitored in the information system classic, is proposed.
The company can be analyzed in relation to the performance standard of operation
that allows you to ac hieve the objectives of the organization taking into account the social
constraints. The indicators of dysfunction, as gaps recorded and revealed by the corporate
actors from the expected operation, are synthetic variables that reveal a state of the socia l
efficiency of the organization. The hidden costs, or loss of added value, are the monetary
translation of the dysfunctional regulatory activities.
The dysfunctions, which are revealed by the actors in interviews, are part of six areas,
which constitute the explanatory variables and model the social performance of an enterprise:
organization of work, working conditions, time management, Communication -Coordination –
Consultation (3c), integrated training , strategic implementation.
These basic malfunctions are then grouped into five indicators considered families of
dysfunction: absenteeism, work accidents, rotation of staff, quality defects, direct
productivity gaps.
To remedy the malfunction, the company implements cost control activities in time
and mat erial or not rendered products and services (non -production). The cost of all the
failures is equal to the sum of the historical cost of time and material overconsumption and
opportunity costs (loss of earnings due to non -production). The unit is a potenti al for
improving economic performance in short term by reducing the historical costs the longer
term by converting the opportunity costs in added value.
The socio -economic analysis, therefore, focuses on the costs of activities, adding
particularly th e work of Miller and V ollman (1985) on the "ghost company" (The hidden
factory) which show that production costs result from costs of activities and not just products
volumes. The socio -economic analysis also develops the concept of integral quality of

operation, which differs from the concept of total quality of Crosby (1979), highlighting the
requirement of a strategic positioning of quality improvement actions.
Summarizing the socio -economic management control is focused on the qualitative
measure, quan titative and financial degradation of social performance. It allows from this
initial measurement, to measure the gains in added value, or reduction of hidden costs,
generated by the reductions of malfunctions, which correspond to the gains in social
satisfaction.
Similarly, it allows measuring the qualitative impact, quantitative and financial of a
decision affecting the social performance.
Socio -economic management control is focused on mastering social performance and
its impact on economic performanc e.
Our hypothesis is that it can help managers to control the social performance
effectively and efficiently, highlighting the links between social satisfaction and the creation
of economic value. The socio -economic management control contributes to the achievement
of the objectives of the company's management control system such as defined Gervais
(2005). It is a process by which leaders ensure that the resources are obtained and used
efficiently and effectively, according to the objectives of the organ ization, and that current
actions are well in line with the defined strategy.

3.Conclusions

The article suggested the design of a socioeconomic management control based on
the theory and analysis socioeconomic of the company, and the study of its susta inable
implementation in the company based on field research. The developed central hypothesis is
that this model offers an answer to the problem of effective and efficient control of the social
performance.
This article is a first approach to the susta inable implementation of socioeconomic
management control. He is asking for additional work to validate the assumptions on a more
large sample of companies and answer questions that have not been addressed here, for
example: how to articulate the socioeco nomic management control the existing management
control in the company? The implantation conditions of socioeconomic management control
and the difficulties of implementing the same as those observed identified by other
management control models? How does the picture of socioeconomic scorecard is placed in
relation to other charts, like the balanced scorecard?

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