Organisational Analysis and Management Tool at Pechiney Ugine Kuhlmann: the Audit and Consolidated Accounts Department's "Grey Brochure", 1971-1982 (1971-1982)

The creation of the pure holding company Pechiney Ugine Kuhlmann (PUK) in the early 1970’s gave rise to an industrial colossus comprised of a parent company that held a myriad of interests and controlled a great number of subsidiaries. Drawing from PUK’s archives, the article seeks to ascertain whether the creation of this industrial giant was followed by the setup of a dedicated structure for the group’s management and whether new management mechanisms were introduced. Study of the archives shows that PUK’s executive management attached special importance to a support service: the Audit and consolidated accounts department. This department was soon given computer resources to make consolidation procedures automatic, as well as additional personnel. It provided executive management with the consolidated accounting and financial information needed to see the big picture of the group’s activities. For that purpose, it produced an original overview document, the “grey brochure,” which compiled all accounting data across the group. The article describes and analyses the contents of the “grey brochure” in order to highlight its quality as a management tool for restricted use by the principal executives of the PUK group.