CONTROLLING

Structure
9.0 Introduction
9.1 Objectives
9.2 Nature and Scope of Control
9.2.1 Types of Control
9.2.2 Control Process
9.3 Control Techniques: Traditional and Modern
9.4 Effective Control System
9.5 Answers to Check Your Progress Questions
9.6 Summary
9.7 Key Words
9.8 Self Assessment Questions and Exercises
9.9 Further Readings
9.0 INTRODUCTION
Control is one of the most important functions of management, second, perhaps,
only to the function of decision-making. Control has very broad applications in
both the personal as well the as industrial world, which ensures that events turn out
the way they are intended to. Control is a powerful force if applied properly. For
instance, energies like nuclear power, controlled air and controlled water run
machines and industries.
Control is a set of mechanisms used to evaluate organizational performance
against the set standards. When deviations occur, appropriate steps are taken to
correct these deviations to ensure that the organization stays on course. This unit
discusses the concepts, characteristics, and techniques involved in managerial
control.
9.1 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you will be able to:
 Discuss the nature and scope of controlling
 Elaborate the creation of standards against which the performance is
measured
 Describe various types of performance evaluations
Controlling
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Self-Instructional
148 Material
 Explain some of the devices used in measuring performance
 Explain some of the characteristics of effective controls
 Discuss the different types of managerial control techniques
9.2 NATURE AND SCOPE OF CONTROL
Control is very important both in organized living as well as ‘living’ organizations.
When things go smoothly as planned, they are considered to be under control.
‘Self-control’ is a word we are all familiar with and which simply means that we
discipline ourselves in such a manner that we strictly adhere to our plans for our
lives and generally do not deviate from these plans. Controls are there to ensure
that events turn out the way they are intended to. It is a dynamic process, requiring
deliberate and purposeful actions in order to ensure compliance with the plans and
policies previously developed. This means that the managerial functions of planning
and controlling are very closely related. Without proper controls planning itself has
little meaning. According to Robert L. Dewelt:
‘The importance of the planning process is quite obvious. Unless we have a
soundly chartered course of action, we will never quite know what actions are
necessary to meet our objectives. We need a map to identify the timing and scope
of all intended actions. This map is provided through the planning process.
But simply making a map is not enough. If we do not follow it or if we make
a wrong turn along the way, chances are we will never achieve the desired results.
A plan is only as good as our ability to make it happen. We must develop methods
of measurement and control to signal when deviations from the plans are occurring
so that corrective action can be taken’.
The inter-relationship between the functions of planning and controlling is
clearly evident. Planning involves the establishment of organization objectives and
the development of strategies, while controlling establishes standards of performance
and compares actual results with the planned results to determine whether
operations are being performed according to pla