Did the French tableau de bord appear in banks? The case of the Crédit Lyonnais 1870-1890

Most of the research work concerning the French tableau de bord tends to locate its birth in industrial companies with engineers as lead roles and the State as supporting role (Lebas, 1996). Yet, a study in the Crédit Lyonnais archives shows that banks are not unequipped with this kind of managerial device. We have studied the period of birth and first development of the Crédit Lyonnais that is from 1870 to 1890. This period is characterized by the expansion of local branches, by the internationalisation of the bank and by the diversification of activities (Bouvier, 1961; Dagneau, 2003). Corporate managers then needed more information to control and compare their branches and activities. At the same time, and as a consequence of this quick growth, overhead expenses exploded. Therefore, the top management asked for more information, not only accounting information but also data concerning the number of clients per day, the number of complaints and the number of letters written to answer them, the number of market orders, etc. At the beginning, this form of tableau de bord was not very well formalised but, gradually, the management asked for more data in the shape of tables or cards. Comparisons year by year were also expected from branches. Furthermore, the Crédit Lyonnais corporate managers claimed for obtaining the same data than other French banks such as the Société Générale. In this paper, we will relate the apparition and progress of non accounting data as a precocious hint of the French tableau de bord. We will also describe the external and internal conditions of this apparition and progress.