Abstract
For a long time, Scania has remained remarkably consistent in its competitive positioning. Its origins date back to the early 1900s, and since 1924 it has produced trucks and busses in Södertälje, a town close to Stockholm. From 1969 until 1995 it formed part of Saab-Scania, which at that time was a major industrial group also producing passenger cars and aircraft, but Scania retained its strong identity. Business units within the group deployed very different management control practices. Hence, Saab-Scania was acting as a conglomerate, in spite of operating in industries where synergies would seem possible. Throughout this period, Scania was the most profitable part of the group. After more than a quarter-century it again became a separate company in 1995.
Much of this chapter is based on a licentiate thesis by Annette Anjou (2008), whose contribution is gratefully acknowledged.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Quotes from Anjou were translated by me and then reviewed by her. My interviews with controllers were also conducted in Swedish, and one controller then approved my translations.
- 3.
The persons interviewed used the Swedish term “ekonom”.
- 4.
Both Anjou’s study and my interviews focus “the industrial side,” so the present chapter can only provide limited information on “the commercial side.”
- 5.
The time a truck can be used and is not “down” for repairs and service. See Anjou (2008, p. 91).
- 6.
According to my interviews, ‘all components’ may be a slight exaggeration. There is however a very high degree of component commonality, as components are optimised for the long-haulage segment.
- 7.
This should be compared with Chap. 7 in this book.
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www.scania.com, information retrieved during April 2011.
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Olve, NG. (2014). Success Through Consistent Strategy: How Does Scania’s Management Control Matter?. In: Jannesson, E., Nilsson, F., Rapp, B. (eds) Strategy, Control and Competitive Advantage. Management for Professionals. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39134-7_4
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