Synergistic Management Control Systems
by
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I have spent over 45 years designing and implementing management control systems. This has given me the opportunity to study the various systems used by the different departments of manufacturing, public utility, financial service, and other companies, and governmental agencies. I have also volunteered for work with churches, schools, and other not-for-profit entities.
Most departmental systems are designed using data that does not tie in to data from other departments. My career has been built around tying these systems together, and getting people in various departments to communicate with each other. They should also understand and appreciate the missions of other departments and the overall organization.
When all of the parts of an organization work together, and are moving toward common goals, the combined effort is always synergistic, or greater than when each department places the priority on their individual goals. This book contains the game plan I have used to develop totally integrated management control systems during my entire career.
I have thought about how to present the material so that it will be easy to transfer to each reader’s circumstances. Some of the material may not apply to your current position, but you will probably encounter all of the different areas sometime during your career. I promise you, that if you will read the entire book, and then study specific chapters as you address different challenges in your career, you will save yourself a lot of pain that comes from learning from your own mistakes.
The principles that are presented to you in this book have worked for me consistently. I always recommend that you clear your final procedures with your attorneys, auditors, insurance companies, tax accountants, and other professionals as appropriate. It just makes sense to clear them with your support group up front. I always ask them to review my new procedures with an admonition to share any of their misgivings and recommendations up front. I also tell them that I will not expect to see any future criticism of the procedures in place, unless circumstances or industry practices change. The bottom line is that I have always wanted the best available input, up front, in order to provide my employers and clients with the best procedures and systems possible.
WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK
I have addressed the subject matter relating to management control systems in great detail in this book. Obviously, volumes would be required to meet the needs of individuals specializing in a particular area. For example, a transportation manager would need much more information than I have presented in the chapter covering that topic. My goal is to cover each subject in a way to open up a dialogue between top managers and their supervisors, as they work on systems for their entity.
I do believe the book contains many principles for success in each area. It has been designed for overall reading and reflection, and also detail study in each area. In an attempt to cover each topic thoroughly within about 400 pages, I have left out a lot of war stories, and replaced them with principles for success. One goal has been to show how each department is critical to other departments. By maximizing the success of each department, the resulting success for the entire company is magnified.
Knowing that this book will be read by top managers, and also departmental managers, I have attempted to arrange each chapter from top level and general subjects, to more detail for departmental specialists. For example, the detail internal controls for each area are presented toward the end of each chapter. They are absolutes for the Controller, and should also be understood by departmental managers. Top managers should read them, but they really do not need to know exactly how to implement them.
I believe the owners of an organization will have a better understanding of the inner-workings of their company after reading this book. They will also appreciate the various management control procedures in place, and how they tie together the management feedback reports they are receiving.
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About the Book
The book addresses the subject matter relating to management control systems in great detail. Obviously, volumes would b e required to meet the needs of individuals specializing in a particular area. For example, a transportation manager would need much more information than what is presented in the chapter covering that topic.
It contains many principles for success in each area. It has been designed for overall reading and reflection, and also detail study in each area.
About the Author
In this book, “Synergistic Management Control Systems”, Ronald O. Travis Sr. (Ron) shares the dynamic management principles learned during his 45-year career. Ron’s career has been centered on designing and implementing totally integrated management control systems and assisting entities in preparing long-term goals and annual budgets. The systems provide short-interval reporting to operators and feedback reports to managers at all levels. He emphasizes honesty, integrity, and excellence in every aspect of management.
In Ron’s first book, “The Synergistic Life Style”, he wrote about the adventures he and his wife have shared since they were married in 1961, at the beginning of their junior year at the
In this book, “Synergistic Management Control Systems”, Ron once again shows the reader how to set long-term goals; this time in every area of the entity they are associated with. He places a great deal of emphasis on developing totally integrated management control systems, where all components of the organization are moving toward the same overall mission and long-term goals:
- Corporate Philosophy - Overall Goals – Acquisitions – Economy
- General Ledger - Feedback System – Internal & External Audits
- Annual Budget - Long-Range Plan - Management Control System
- Cash Management – Debt – Capital Expenditures
- Purchasing – Production – Environmental – Safety - Inventory Control – Payables
- Distribution - Marketing - Receivables
Ron knows that if an entity fails in one major area, synergism will work in reverse, and have a negative effect on all of the other areas.
In addition to being successful in public accounting, corporate management, and business consulting, Ron has partnered with June and others to build apartments and other real-estate ventures.
Ron and his wife June have three grown sons, their lovely wives, and twelve grandchildren.
Ron is a Certified Public Accountant with certificates from
- Three years in public accounting.
- Two years as an Officer in the United States Army.
- Ten years as the CFO and Senior Vice President for two subsidiaries of Kane-Miller Corp.
- Nineteen years as CFO and Senior V. P. of McWane, Inc.
- President of Travis Management Systems, LLP.
- In this book, Ron shares many of the problems and setbacks of entities he has worked with. His focus is on principles learned in each case, and not the specific companies involved.