Control

The final fundamental function of management I will talk about in my blog is control. Control is defined by Daft and Marcic to be "the systematic process of regulating organizational activities to make them consistent with the expectations established in plans, targets, and standards of performance." (Daft & Marcic, p. 538) In simpler, 21st century management terms, control can be said to be the methods used to ensure that performance is met and all other functions of the organization are working properly.

In my organization, I am responsible for all of the control. It is the manager's job to ensure that everything that needs to be done within the organization is getting done, and that everyone is staying productive. Using the other fundamentals of management, such as leading, the manager plays in important role in being in control of the organization. The biggest hurdle that this control process can encounter, however, is a lack of information. In an article on the control function, Douglas S. Sherwin summarizes the concept of control as "action which adjusts operations to predetermined standards, and its basis is information in the hands of managers." (Sherwin) The key phrase to take from this is the basis of control being information available to managers. Without this information, it is difficult to know how performance is going, and to know what needs to be improved upon in the organization. One way to enhance control is for managers to know what information is essential, how they will obtain that information,and how they can and should respond to it. By knowing which metrics to look at, a manager will be able to be more effectively in control of the organization.

As a manager, it is my responsibility to look at measures of performance and emphasizing which ones are most important to the organization. Similar to how most managers today measure performance, I would use the balanced scorecard method. Daft and Marcic define this to be a "comprehensive management control system that balances traditional financial measures with operational measures relating to a company's critical success factors." (Daft & Marcic, p. 540) This method has four key perspectives, which are financial performance, customer service, internal business processes, and the organization's capacity for learning and growth. Among these, besides financial performance which almost every organization emphasizes heavily, capacity for learning and growth will be extremely important for my organization. An organization can especially thrive if the resources and human capital are being managed for the company's future, and by focusing on this aspect of performance, it is likely that the organization will be able to be in business for future years.

Albert Einstein has an assertion that ties heavily into the fundamentals of control in management. "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." (YouConnect) This relates to the performance aspects of control, specifically looking at what measures a manager looks at when determining performance. Although a manager has a lot of data he or she can evaluate, not all of this data is important. On the other hand, some key information has the possibility of not being quantifiable.

While a manager is the one with all of the control in an organization, it is possible for a manager to experience an illusion of control as well. Some illusions for example include setting and enforcing rules when they are not necessary, or thinking you are in control of a situation when in fact the outcome is independent from everything else. Managers must be wary of these and turn to control methods that are actually pertinent. This can be done through feedback model systems and finding out whether or not actions taken by the manager are resulting in successes for the organization.

Control today has two primary methods that it follows: hierarchical and decentralized. Hierarchical control "involves monitoring and influencing employee behavior through extensive use of rules, policies, hierarchy of authority, written documentation, reward systems, and other formal mechanisms." (Daft & Marcic, p. 548) This contrasts with decentralized control, which relies on "cultural values, traditions, shared beliefs, and trust to foster compliance with organizational goals." (Daft & Marcic, p. 549) For my organization, the decentralized method is more important. An organization that focuses its values on traditions, shared beliefs, and trust has a better organizational chemistry with everyone having an understanding of the organization's mission, and their role to achieve this mission. With this method, it is also easier to have continuous improvement, which is extremely important for any organization. Growth and learning are key performance measures, and by working on little tasks to improve one at a time, employees can have this growth and development and the organization as a whole can have continuous improvement.

One vital aspect of an organization that a manager has a lot of control in is financial control. Financial controls tell whether the organization is on sound financial footing, and it also is useful in indicating other kinds of performance problems. In order to ensure relevant financial management, it is critical to see which services are working and which are not. It is also necessary to look at the balance sheet and income statement to see what assets are available, and to see where the organization's spending is going. Focusing on a zero-based budgeting approach can also be helpful in starting over when it comes to starting over and setting a budget for everything in the organization.

- Sayuz


Sources:
Daft, Richard L. Management. 9th ed., Cengage Learning, 2018.

Sherwin, Douglas S. “The Ethical Roots of the Business System.” Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review, 1 Aug. 2014, hbr.org/1983/11/the-ethical-roots-of-the-business-system.











https://hbr.org/1983/11/the-ethical-roots-of-the-business-system