Managing Innovation, Design and Creativity

Chapter 33. Management without control?

CASE STUDY 12: SAM HEADHUNTING^[124]

Trust is OK – is control better?

I do not believe in control, hierarchy and rigid structure; such things might make people feel that they are in control – but in reality they are not.

—Niels Schreiner Andersen, Senior Partner, SAM Headhunting

Figure 33.1. Figure 33.1

"This is the third time since headhunting has become our main area of activity that people have abused the system, don't you think it is time we did something about it?" This was a question senior partners in SAM Headhunting were facing late 2006 when a partner in one of their European organisations had borrowed rather heavily from the company without declaring it. Admittedly, it had not been to fund a glamorous lifestyle but to finance some medical treatment for his wife – but still, it was a misappropriation of company money and needed to be dealt with. When exposed the person had argued that, being the managing director, it was legal in his country to borrow money from the company. But he was not able to provide evidence of that; in addition the level of borrowing was such that payback seemed rather unrealistic.

A few of the eight senior partners felt quite strongly that this required a review of company policies. They felt that stricter controls needed to be in place to ensure that similar incidences would not happen in future. On the other hand, ...