Nature of Management - Nature of Control

Nature Of Control

Management process comprises of planning ,organizing ,staffing ,directing and controlling. Thus control is part and parcel of the management process

THE NATURE OF CONTROL

1.        Control is the process of assuring that plans achieve the desired objectives and goals.

a.        The essence of control is feedback information on the results of actions taken by the enterprise for the purposes of measurement and regulation.

b.        Control can be precise, imprecise, formal, informal, good, or bad.

c.        Control has two aspects.

1)        Performance is measured against a standard.

2)        Performance is regulated or corrected (if necessary) in light of that measurement (thus, timeliness of feedback is important).

2.        Controls are often classified as follows:

a.        Feedback controls obtain information about completed activities.  They permit improvement in future performance by learning from past mistakes.  Thus, corrective action occurs after the fact.  Inspection of completed goods is an example.

b.        Concurrent controls adjust ongoing processes.  These real-time controls monitor activities in the present to prevent them from deviating too far from standards.  An example is close supervision of production-line workers.

c.        Feedforward controls anticipate and prevent problems.  These controls require a long-term perspective.  Organizational policies and procedures are examples.

3.        A typical sequence of control functions includes

a.        Selecting strategic control points at which to gather information about the activities being performed

b.        Observing the work, or collecting samples or other significant data

c.        Accumulating, classifying, and recording this information

d.        Comparing it with predetermined quality, schedule, and cost standards

e.        Determining whether performance is satisfactory

f.        Reporting significant deviations to managers concerned

g.        Determining, by repeating the steps, whether action taken is effective in correcting reported deviations (follow-up) 

h.        Reviewing and revising standards

4.        A successful control process is one that institutes corrections before the deviations become serious.

5.        Planning and control overlap, and some common managerial tools apply to both.

        They are often referred to as Siamese twins of management .Every  goal. policy,            procedure and budget become standards against which actual         performance is compared.

        Once the control process is over its findings are integrated into the planning to         prescribe new standards of control

a.        Comprehensive planning includes creation of control mechanisms, i.e., measurement and follow-up.

b.        Budgets, breakeven charts, and Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

are examples of systematically combining planning with control.

6.        Control devices may be either quantative or qualitive.

a.        Budgets, schedules, quotas, charts, etc., are quantitative.

b.        Job instructions, quality-control standards, and employment criteria are qualitative.

7.        The total control process is a closed system consisting of a series of control elements.

a.        As the final managerial function, control also closes the total managerial system by leading back to revised plans and corrective action when necessary to accomplish objectives.

8.        Effective control systems should display the following characteristics:

a.        Economical:  Excessive controls are costly in time as well as money.

b.        Meaningful:  They must measure performance in important areas.

c.        Appropriate:  They must fairly reflect the events they are designed to measure.