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Which organizational model, centralization or decentralization, suits a company best ? Case study of the company Rexel

Nederlandt, Jérôme
(2016)

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Nederlandt_83261000_2016.pdf
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Nederlandt_83261000_2016_Annexe1.pdf
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Details

Supervisors
Agrell, Per Joakim ; Lejeune, Christophe
Faculty
Louvain School of Management
Degree label
Master [120] en Ingénieur de gestion
Abstract
Centralization and decentralization have been recognized as important strategical decisions and have therefore been largely reviewed in the literature. A company can indeed benefit in many ways from these two different organizational models. Since these two strategies are different, their advantages and disadvantages are generally opposite and depend on many factors. The aim of the thesis and its problematic was therefore to tackle this thematic through a case study, the company Rexel and provide some meaningful recommendations to managers. The methodology used along this thesis can be divided in three main steps. Firstly, a careful review of the literature has been carried in order to put the main pros and cons of both strategies forward. Secondly, the company Rexel was studied in the Netherlands and Australia. Based on the qualitative and quantitative results collected from this case study, different analyses and conclusions were drawn. Thirdly, a comparison between the literature and the applied findings was undertaken. The objective was to determine to which extent the theory meets or differs from the practice and what could be added to it. The results from this work confirmed some of the literature findings and disconfirmed some others. It indeed appeared that the theory was not always observed and applicable. Some additional findings were also gathered and completed some of the points discussed in theory. At the end of this work, conclusions and recommendations were developed, explaining what can be expected from a centralized and decentralized system and how a company can benefit from these two models. It should however be kept in mind that these findings are based on Rexel, a large and worldwide company selling electrical devices and services. As a result, all the results might not be applicable to other businesses and markets.

Citations

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Nederlandt, J. (2016). Which organizational model, centralization or decentralization, suits a company best ? Case study of the company Rexel.