Every manager whether in the private or public sector, needs a clear view of what he wants to achieve, the means available to use to reach these objectives, and the efficiency and effectiveness with which these means are used. Management by pure intuition can be very creative and fruitful from a short term perspective, but it won't keep shareholders happy in the long run. Even if taking risks is at the core of entrepreneurship, shareholders expect management to minimise these risks. This general rule also holds true for a public company like De Lijn, where the regional Flemish government owns 70% of the shares. But applying modern corporate management methods and tools is also linked to more specific characteristics of De Lijn's public transport business: relationships between the political authority that defines its mobility policy at the strategic level, and the public transport company that translates its part of the policy into tactics and operations are written down in a long term management contract that includes detailed reporting commitments.
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