Ch 6 - Control

Principles of Management

Controlling

process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and of correcting any significant deviations

Purpose of control

to ensure that activities are completed in ways that lead to accomplishment of organisational goals

Why is controlling important?

If managers didn’t control, they’d have no way of knowing whether their goals and plans were being achieved and what future actions to take.

Planning

controls let managers know whether their goal and plans are on target and what future actions to take

Empowering employees

control systems provide managers with information and feedback on employee performance

Protecting the workplace

controls enhance physical security and help minimise workplace disruptions

Process of Control

Measuring actual performance
Comparing actual performance against a standard
Taking action to correct deviations or inadequate standards

Performance

the end result of an activity

Organisational performance

the accumulated end results of all the organisation’s work processes and activities

Organisational performance factors:

- Designing strategies, work processes, and work activities
- Coordinating the work of employees

Productivity

the overall output of goods and services by the inputs needed to generate that output

Output

sales revenues

Inputs

costs of resources (materials, labour expense, and facilities)

productivity measures

how efficiently employees do their work

Feedforward control

a control that prevents anticipated problems before actual occurrences of the problem

Concurrent control

a control that takes place while the monitored activity is in progress

Direct supervision

management by walking around

Feedback control

a control that takes place after an activity is done

Corrective action

is after-the-fact, when the problem has already occurred

Advantages of feedback control

- Provide managers with information on the effectiveness of their planning efforts
- Enhance employee motivation by providing them with information on how well they are doing

Causes of Motivation

Monetary incentives & efficiency