How management accounting delivers long term focus

Van den Udenhout (VdU) is a large Dutch group of car dealers. The managing director (MD) was concerned that although VdU performed quite well in terms of profits, sales volume and customer satisfaction, he believed the basis for future performance was very weak and was vulnerable to external circumstances, such as the popularity of its models and economic circumstances. The MD had the ambition to change the managers’ and employees’ focus on the dealership’s most important asset – its network of customer relations.