THE CONTROLLING PROCESS
MS AMNA MUNIR
WHAT IS CONTROL?
• Setting plan, establishing the structure and directing the people do not
guarantee that every thing in the organization is going on well.
• Thus, control process is very important for all types of organizations.
• Control to define is making sure that something happens the way it was
planned to happen. As implied in this definition, planning and controlling
are inseparable functions.
• Controlling is also the task of ensuring that the activities are providing
the desired results.
WHY CONTROL IS IMPORTANT?
• Plans rarely go smoothly. Most plans are executed by people and people
vary in their abilities, motivations and honesty.
• Plans become outdated and require revisions.
• For these reasons control is an important management function.
• Control means controlling every task in an organization whether it is
large, or delegated to some employee.
• Thus for every task delegated, there has to be a control system that
ensures completion of performances in line with the plans.
PREREQUISITES OF CONTROL SYSTEM
Control Requires Planning:
• All meaningful control techniques are, planning techniques
• It is worthless to design control plans without taking in account how well the plans are
made.
Control Requires Organization Structure:
• Purpose of control is to measure activities and take action to assure that plans are
being accomplished.
• Control of activities operates through people.
• Therefore a major prerequisite of control is the existence of an organizational
structure.
THE CONTROL PROCESS
Control process involves the following steps as shown in the figure:
1. Establishing Standards
• This means setting up of the target which needs to be achieved to meet
organizational goals eventually. Standards indicate the criteria of
performance.
• Control standards are categorized as quantitative and qualitative
standards. Quantitative standards are expressed in terms of
money. Qualitative standards, on the other hand, includes intangible
items.
2. MEASUREMENT OF ACTUAL PERFORMANCE:
• The actual performance of the employee is measured against the target.
Once the task is completed, it is the job of the manager to measure the
performance of the employees. The manager will analyze the
performance of each employee and ask them to submit their report of
work.
• With the increasing levels of management, the measurement of
performance becomes difficult.
3. Comparison of Actual Performance with the Standard
• This compares the degree of difference between the actual performance
and the standard.
• After the measurement of the actual report, a comparison is made
between the actual performance and the pre-decided standard
performance and the difference is calculated between both the
performances and a report is generated after the analysis of the
performance of all employees.
4. Taking Corrective Actions if Required
• This step is initiated by the manager who corrects any defects in actual
performance.
• When the performance of each employee is analyzed, and the difference
between the target given to them and the percentage of target achieved
by them is observed, then required actions are taken as per the policy of
the company and the past performance of the employee.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ADEQUATE CONTROL
• Control should be tailored to plans and positions.
• Control must be tailored o individual managers and their responsibilities.
• Control should point up exceptions as critical points.
• Control should be objective.
• Control should be flexible.
• Control should be economical.
• Control should lead to corrective actions.
TYPES OF CONTROL
• Pre Control: Control that takes place before the work performed. It is
also known as Feed-forward Control.
• Pre control focuses on eliminating predicted problems.
• Concurrent Control: Refers to the control that takes place as work is
being performed.
• Feedback Control: This refers to the control that concentrates on the
post organizational performance.
BARRIERS TO SUCCESSFUL CONTROLLING
Barriers to controlling include:
• Control activities can create undesirable overemphasis on short
term production as opposed to long term production.
• Control activities can increase employee’s frustration.
• Control can encourage falsification of reports.