Foundations of Control

What Is Control?

Control
The

process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and of correcting any significant deviations
ensure that activities are completed in ways that lead to accomplishment of organizational goals

The Purpose of Control

Designing Control Systems

Market Control Emphasizes the use of external market mechanisms to establish the standards used in the control system Bureaucratic Control Emphasizes organizational authority and relies on rules, regulations, procedures, and policies Clan Control Regulates behavior by shared values, norms, traditions, rituals, and beliefs of the firms culture

Contingency Factors in the Design of Control Systems

Why Is Control Important?

The final link in management functions:

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

Empowering
Control

employees

systems provide managers with information and feedback on employee performance

Protecting
Controls

the workplace

enhance physical security and help minimize workplace disruptions

The PlanningControlling Link

Goals
Objectives Strategies Plans Controlling Standards Measurements Comparison Actions Leading Motivation Leadership Communication Individual and Group Behaviour Organizing Structure

Human Resource Management

The Control Process

The Process of Control

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

The Control Process

GOALS Organizational Divisional Departmental Individual Comparing Actual Performance Against Standard

Step 2

Step 3

Taking Managerial Action

How and What We Measure

How: Sources of Information

What: Control Criteria

Personal observations Statistical reports Oral reports Written reports

Employees Satisfaction Turnover Absenteeism Budgets Costs Output Sales

Common Sources of Information for Measuring Performance

Comparing

Determining the degree of variation between actual performance and the standard
Significance
The

of variation is determined by:

acceptable range of variation from the standard (forecast or budget) The size (large or small) and direction (over or under) of the variation from the standard

Defining the Acceptable Range of Variation

Standard

Acceptable Range of Variation

Acceptable Lower Limit

t+1

t+2 t+3 Time Period ( t )

t+4

t+5

Sales Performance Figures for July, Beer Unlimited

Taking Managerial Action

Courses of Action
Doing
Only

nothing
actual (current) performance
or basic corrective action
whether the standard is realistic, fair, and

if deviation is insignificant

Correcting

Immediate

Revising

the standard

Determine

achievable

Managerial Decisions in the Control Process

No Is standard acceptable? Y es Identify cause of variation

No

Revise standard

Correct performance

Controlling for Organizational Performance

What Is Performance?

The end result of an activity

What Is Organizational Performance?

The accumulated end results of all of the organizations work processes and activities

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

Organizational Performance Measures

Organizational Productivity
The

overall output of goods and/or services divided by the inputs needed to generate that output Ultimately, a measure of how efficiently employees do their work

Organizational Performance Measures

Organizational Effectiveness (contd)

how appropriate organizational goals are and how well the organization is achieving its goals
Systems

resource model: Is organization efficient in acquiring scarce and valued resources? The process model: Is organization efficient in converting inputs to outputs? The multiple constituencies model: Is organization effective in meeting each constituencies needs?

Organizational Performance Measures (contd)

Industry Rankings
Many

different lists exist to rank organizations. Some examples:

on Business Magazines Top 1000; Canadas Power Book Report on Business Magazines 50 Best Companies To Work For in Canada Profits 100: Canadas Fastest Growing Companies

Tools for Controlling Organizational Performance

Feed-forward Control
Prevents
Building

anticipated problems before they occur

in quality through design Requiring suppliers conform to ISO 9002

Concurrent Control
Monitoring
Direct

while activity is in progress

supervision: management by walking around

Tools for Controlling Organizational Performance (contd)

Feedback Control
Takes

place after an activity is done

Corrective

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

Advantages
Feedback

provides managers with information on the effectiveness of their planning efforts Feedback enhances employee motivation by providing them with information on how well they are doing

Types of Control
Input Processes Output

Feedforward Control

Concurrent Control Corrects problems as they happen

Feedback Control Corrects problems after they occur

Anticipates problems

Tools for Controlling Organizational Performance: Financial Controls

Traditional Controls

Other Measures

Ratio analysis Liquidity Leverage Activity Profitability Budget analysis Quantitative standards Deviations

Economic value added (EVA) Market value added (MVA)

Popular Financial Ratios

Popular Financial Ratios (contd)

Tools for Controlling Organizational Performance: Financial Controls (contd)

Other Measures
Economic
How

value added (EVA)

much value is created by what a company does with its assets, less any capital investments in those assets: the rate of return earned over and above the cost of capital

Tools for Controlling Organizational Performance: Financial Controls (contd)

Other Measures (contd)

value added (MVA)

value that the stock market places on a firms past and expected capital investment projects

If

the firms market value (its stock and debt) exceeds the value of its invest capital (its equity and retained earnings), then managers have created wealth

Controlling Organizational Performance

Balanced Scorecard
A

measurement tool that uses goals set by managers in four areas to measure a companys performance:
Financial Customer Internal

processes People/innovation/growth assets

Information Controls

Management Information Systems (MIS)

system used to provide management with needed information on a regular basis

an unorganized collection of raw, unanalyzed facts (e.g., unsorted list of customer names) Information: data that has been analyzed and organized such that it has value and relevance to managers

Benchmarking of Best Practices

Benchmarking
The

search for the best practices among competitors or noncompetitors that lead to their superior performance A control tool for identifying and measuring specific performance gaps and areas for improvement

Contemporary Issues in Control

Cross-cultural Issues
The

use of technology to increase direct corporate control of local operations Legal constraints on corrective actions in foreign countries Difficulty with the comparability of data collected from operations in different countries

Contemporary Issues in Control (contd)

Workplace Concerns

Privacy versus monitoring:

E-mail, telephone, computer, and Internet usage can all be monitored

Employee theft

The unauthorized taking of company property by employees for their personal use
Anger, rage, and violence in the workplace is affecting employee productivity

Violence

Control Measures for Employee Theft or Fraud

Contemporary Issues in Control (contd)

Customer Interactions
Service
The

profit chain

service sequence from employees to customers to profit

Service capability service value customer satisfaction customer loyalty repeat business (profit)

Contemporary Issues in Control (contd)

Corporate Governance
The

system used to govern a corporation so that the interests of the corporate owners are protected
Changes

in the role of boards of directors Increased scrutiny of financial reporting