November 7, 2021

TECHNIQUES OF CONTROL TYPES OF CONTROLS The major types of controls are based on timing, consider the use of multiple controls, and contract cybernetic and noncybernetic types of controls. Major control types by TIMING Using a system perspective, one can think of the productive cycle of an organization as encompassing inputs, transformation processes, and outputs that occur at different points in time. Accordingly at one major way of classifying control is based on their timing or stages in the productive cycle- in other words, on whether they focus on inputs, transformation processes, or out puts. Managers often have options regarding the stage in the transformation cycle at which they institute controls. The three respective types of controls based on timing are feedforward, concurrent and feedback. FEED FORWARD CONTROL Feed forward control focuses on the regulation of inputs to ensure they meet the standards necessary for the transformation process. Inputs that can be subject to feed forward control include materials, people, finances, time and other resources used by organization. Feed forward control attempts to evaluate potential inputs and reject or correct those that do not meet standards. The emphasis of feedforward control is on prevention in order to preclude later serious difficulties in the productive process. Feedforward control also is sometimes called preliminary control, pre control, preventive control or steering control. CONCURRENT CONTROL Concurrent control involves the regulation of ongoing activities that are part of the transformation process. To ensure that they conform to organizational standards. With concurrent control, the emphasis is on identifying difficulties in the productive process that could result in faulty output. Concurrent control sometimes is called screening or Yes-no control, because it often involves checkpoints at which determinations are made about whether to continue progress, take corrective action, or stop work altogether on a product or service. Since concurrent control involves regulating ongoing tasks, it requires a thorough understanding of specific tasks involved and their relationship to the desired end product. In other words, it must be possible to clearly specify standards for how various activities are to be conducted. As you may have surmised, it can be difficult to use this type of control for endeavors that require creativity and innovation, such as creative advertising or conducting research and development. The reason is that, in such areas, it is typically not possible to specify exactly what to be done to achieve the desired results. Thus, when creativity and innovation are important, the emphasis is most often placed on feed forwardcontrol. (e.g. competent people, necessary equipment), as well as feedback control. FEEDBACK CONTROL Feedback control is a regulation exercised after a product or service has been completed in order to ensure that the final /output meets organizational standards and goals. Feedback control system sometimes called post action control or output control fulfils a number of important functions. For one thing, it often is used when feed forward and concurrent controls are not feasible or are so costly. For example, suppose that you are the sales manager of a company that manufactures machine tools, even if it were possible for you to clearly specify the exact activities that lead to good sales (an unlikely prospect), it still would be difficult for you to use concurrent control beyond a minimum level (e.g. information about schedule contracts) to check on the specific ongoing task activities of each sales person in the field. Therefore you would likely emphasize feedforward control by carefully selecting new hires- new personnel and then use feedback control by periodically comparing sales quotas (standard) with actual sales. Feedback control also is often used when the exact processes involved in producing a product or service (e.g. performing complex surgery) are difficult to specify in advance. This type of control can also serve as a final means of checking for deviations that were not detected earlier. Recently, many major companies have been expending great efforts to improve quality so that either feedback control is unnecessary or there are a few deviations to detect and, hence very little scrap or rework to be done. Another function of feedback control is providing information that will facilitate the planning process. Such information, which may include a number of units made or sold, cost of various aspects of production, quality measures, return on investment, or clients served, can be used in revising existing plans and formulating new ones. Finally, feedback control provides output information that is particularly useful in the process of rewarding employee performance. MULTIPLE CONTROLS Organizations typically set up multiple control systems, systems that use two or more of the Feed forward, concurrent, or feedback control processes and involve several strategic control points are performance area chosen for control because they are particularly important in meeting organization goals. Multiple control systems develop because of the need to control various aspects of a productive cycle, including inputs transforming, and outputs. When organizations do not have multiple control systems that focus on strategic control points, they often can experience difficulties that cause manageras to revaluate their control processes.

REQUIREMENTS/ CHARACTERISTICS OF ADEQUATE CONTROLS Effective control systems have certain characteristics. They form a checklist for assessing control systems that are being designed or are in operations. Future –oriented To be effective, control systems need t help regulate future events, rather than fix blame for past events. A well designed control system focuses on letting the mangers know how work is progressing toward unit objectives, pinpointing areas in which future corrective action is needed, and uncovering unforeseen opportunities that might be developed- all aids to future action. Multidimensional In most cases, control systems need to be multidimensional in order to capture the major relevant performance factors. It is wrong to focus on quantity without concern for other issues, such as quality, scrap rate, and overheads. Cost effective The cost of control is an important consideration. Essentially its benefits should outweigh the cost the organization incurs. Accurate Since controls provide the basis for future actions, accuracy is vital. Control data that are seriously inaccurate may be worse than no controls at all, since managers may make poor decision on the basis of faulty data that they believe to be accurate. Realistic Control systems should incorporate realistic expectations abut what can be accomplished. Otherwise, employees are likely to view the control system as unreasonable and may ignore or even sabotage it. Timely Control systems are designed to provide data on the state of a given production cycle or process as of specific time, for example, a monthly sales report, a weekly update on a project, a daily production report, or quality inspections on a production line. In order for managers and employees to respond promptly to irregularities, control systems must provide relevant information soon enough to allow corrective action before there are serious repercussions. Monitorable Another desirable characteristic of a control system is that they can be monitored to ensure that they are performing as expected. One way of checking a control system is to deliberately insert an imperfection, such as defective part, and observe how long it takes the system to detect and report it to the correct individual. Obviously, it is important to keep close tabs on the test to be sure that the imperfection does not cause significant difficulties if the system fails. Acceptable to organizations members Control systems operate best when they are accepted by the organizations members who are affected by them. Otherwise members may take actions to override and undermine the controls. Control systems are apt to be accepted when they focus on important issues that are compatible with organizational goals, when they provide useful data to various levels, when data collected gives a fair and accurate picture of employee performance, and when emphasis is on using the data for making improvements (as opposed to setting blame) Flexible Just as organizations must be flexible to respond rapidly to changing environments, control systems need to be flexible enough to meet new or revised requirements. Accordingly they should be designed so that they can be changed quickly to measure and report new information and track new endeavors.

LEVELS OF CONTROLS Organizations often have three levels of controls: 1. Strategic controls 2. Tactical controls 3. Operation controls 1. Strategic Controls – This involves monitoring critical environmental factors that could affect the viability of strategic plans, assessing the effects of organizational strategic actions, and ensuring that strategic plans are implemented as intended. Control at this level is the domain of top-level management, who generally take an organization wide perspective. For strategic controls managers often concentrate on relatively long time frames, such as quarterly, semiannual, and annual reporting cycles. If environments are somewhat unstable and or competition is especially keen, managers may use shorter reporting cycles for strategic control. They also make use of tactical and operational plans to ensure their implementation as intended at the middle and lower levels. 2. Tactical Control – Tactical control focuses on assessing the implementation of tactical pans at department levels, monitoring associated periodic results, and taking corrective action as necessary. Control at the tactical level involves mainly middle managers, who are concerned with departmental- level objectives, programs, and budget and who concentrate on periodic or middle term frames and often use weekly or monthly reporting cycles. They also test how the environment reacts to the tactical initiatives of their departments. Although their main concern is with tactical control, middle mangers are likely to engage in strategic control in the sense of providing information to upper level managers for strategic issues. They are also involved in operational control, at least to the extent of checking on some of the more critical aspects of operating plan implementation. 3. Operational Control – Tactical control focuses on assessing the implementation of tactical pans at department levels, monitoring associated periodic results, and taking corrective action as necessary. Control at the tactical level involves mainly middle managers, who are concerned with departmental- level objectives, programs, and budget and who concentrate on periodic or middle term frames and often use weekly or monthly reporting cycles. They also test how the environment reacts to the tactical initiatives of their departments. They monitor schedules, budgets, rules and specific outputs normally associated with individuals. Controls at this level focuses on daily sales production, daily staff turnover or absenteeism. Although their main concern is with tactical control, middle mangers are likely to engage in strategic control in the sense of providing information to upper level managers for strategic issues. They are also involved in operational control, at least to the extent of checking on some of the more critical aspects of operating plan implementation The levels of control Strategic, tactical and operational- are strongly interrelated in much the same way that planning systems at different levels are integrated. For example if an organization decides that quality will be an important part of its strategy, then quality becomes an important area of control not only at the strategic level but also at the tactical and operational levels. Thus for controls to be effective, it is important that they operate in concert. The Control Process (Steps) The controlling process has seven major steps: 1. Determine areas to control-Production Managers must first decide which major areas will be controlled. It is not possible and it is expensive to control everything in the organization. Managers normally base their control interest on the organization goals and objectives developed at the planning stage. 2. Establishing performance standardsPlan-100 Units In controlling, standards are essential because they spell out specific criteria for evaluating performance and related employee behaviors. Often standards are incorporated into the goals at the planning stage and only need to be reiterated. Standards serve 3 purposes. (i) They enable an employee to know what is expected of them. (ii) Standards provide a basis for detecting job difficulties related to personal limitations might be due to lack of training experience or personal problems. Such limitations can be based on lack of ability, training or experience or on any other job- related deficiency that prevents an individual from performing properly on the job. Timely identification of deficiencies makes it possible to take corrective action before the difficulties become serious ad possibly irresolvable (iii) Standards help reduce potential negative effects of goal incongruence. Goal incongruence is a condition in which there are major incompatibilities between the goals of an organization members and those of the organization. Such incompatibilities can occur for a number of reasons, such as lack of support for organizational objectives (e.g. viewing a job as temporary and attempting to do minimum), and often result in behaviors that are incompatible with reaching organizational goals. One common manifestation of goal incongruence is employee theft, which includes wasting organizations resources, as well as taking equipment, materials and money. Other considerations include: They should be set at a reasonable level – to too high not too low They should be kept at a reasonable number The process of setting should involve subordinates Identify strategic points or controlling points Conditions people to want even higher standards. 3. Measure performance 80 Units Once standards are determined, the next step is measuring performance. For a given standard, managers must decide on how to measure actual performance and often do so. One of the more popular techniques used to help get standards and coordinate the measurement performance is management by objectives. The means of measuring performance will depend on set standards, but they can include such data as units produced, amount of service rendered, amount of materials used, number of defects found, scrap rate, steps or processes followed, profits, return on investments, quality of output, or stores opened. Although quantitative measures are often used whenever possible, many important aspects of performance can be difficult to measure quantitatively. Once they have selected the means of measurement, managers must decide how often they will measure performance for control purposes. In some cases managers need control data on a daily, hourly, or even more frequent basis. In other cases weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, or even annual data may be sufficient. Other considerations include: Be economical Be as accurate as

Principals of management Control function Controlling is the process of regulating organizational activities so that actual performance conforms to expected organizational standards and goals/Plans In the controlling process managers set up control systems. A control system is a set of mechanisms designated to increase the probability of meeting organizational standards. Control systems may be developed to regulate an area that a manager considers important e.g quality of services, products, products, profit margins, client satisfaction, timeliness of deliveries, quality procedures etc. Role of Control Control assists managers in 5 ways: 1. Coping with uncertainty – Uncertainty arises because organsiational goals are based on future estimates yet the actual often differs from such forecasts. Environmental factors often bring about changes. Managers should therefore develop control system to monitor specific activities and react swiftly to environment changes. 2. Detecting irregularities – Controls help managers detect undesirable irregularities such as poor quality, cost overruns or rising personal turnover. Early detection of such irregularities helps prevent minor problems from mushrooming into major ones. 3. Identifying opportunities – Controls help highlight situations in which things are going on better than expected, thereby alerting management to possible future opportunities. 4. Handling complex situations – As organizations grows larger, controls enhance co-ordination. They help managers keep track of various major elements to be sure that they are well synchronized. 5. Decentralizing authority – Controls affords managers more latitude to decentralize authority. With proper controls managers can foster decision making at lower levels in the organization but still maintain a hand on progress of the same. Nature and characteristics of control: i. Pervasive function in the sense that it is required at all levels of management and in every type of organization. ii. It is a continuous process in the sense that it involves review of performance and revision of standard operations on a continuous basis as long as the organization exists, control continues to exist. iii. It is an action oriented process in the sense that the manager starts comparing actual performance with the planned performance immediately after actual activities have been undertaken. A good control system always facilitates timely action in the form of corrective measures to prevent the recurrence deviations in future. iv. Basis of control: Planning is the basis of control because it lays down the standards attainable against which actual performance is compared under controlling function. The concept of control presupposes the existence of planning. Without planning, no control is possible. v. Backward and forward looking process: In the sense that it compares actual performance which has been or is being carried out with the planned performance. Control is a forward looking process in the sense that it improves future planning by suggesting revision of existing plans and targets and adoption of new plans on the basis of information derived from past experience. It looks at future through the eyes of the past.