FOUNDATIONS OF

CONTROL
What is Control?
Why is Control Important?

The Control Process

Types of Control

Contemporary Issues in Control

 WHAT IS CONTROL?
Control is the process of monitoring
activities to ensure that they are being
accomplished as planned & of correcting
any significant deviations
 Three Approaches to Control
System
Market An approach to control that
control emphasizes the use of external
market mechanisms to establish the
standards used in the control system
Bureaucratic An approach to control that
control emphasize organizational authority &
relies on administrative rules,
regulations, procedures, & policies
Clan control An approach to control in which
employee behavior is regulated by the
shared values, norms, traditions,
rituals, beliefs, & other aspect of the
organizations culture
 WHY IS CONTROL
IMPORTANT?
To know whether organizational goals
are being met and, if not, the reason
why.

To delegate authority & empower

employees.
THE CONTROL PROCESS

Control process is a three-step

process including measuring actual
performance, comparing actual
performance against a standard, &
taking managerial action to correct
deviations or inadequate standards.
 Step 2:
Step 1: Comparing Actual
Measuring Actual Performance
Performance Against Standard
GOALS &
OBJECTIVES:
Organizational
Divisional
Departmental
Individual

Step 3:
Taking
Managerial
Action
 Measuring
How to measure:
Source of information
personal observation,
statistical reports, oral
reports, & written reports

What to measure:
Is probably more critical to
the control process than how
to measure
Comparing
Determines the degree
of variation between
actual performance &
the standard

Range of variation the

acceptable parameters
of variance between
actual performance &
the standard
 Taking Managerial Action
1. Immediate corrective action
corrective action that corrects
problems at once to get performance
back on track.
2. Basic corrective action corrective
action that looks at how & why
performance deviated & then proceeds
to correct the source of deviation.
 TYPES OF CONTROL

Input Processes Output

Feedforward Concurrent Feedback

Control Control Control

Corrects Corrects
Anticipates
Problems as Problems after
problems
they happen they occur
 Types of Control
Feedforward control a type of control
that focuses on preventing anticipated
problems since it takes place in advance of
the actual work activity.
Concurrent control a type of control that
takes place while a work activity is in
progress
Feedback control a type of control that
takes place after a work activity is done.
 Contingency Factors in the
Design of Control Systems
Organization size
Position & level
Degree of
decentralization
Organizational culture
Importance of an
activity
 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN
CONTROL
Workplace privacy
Employee theft
Workplace violence