Four Step Control

Principles of Management

Essay Questions

1. Describe the four steps in the control process. Which step is the most important and why do you take that position? Where have you seen this step used improperly, or where could this step, if mishandled, be disastrous. What industry or field? Explain.

The following are the four steps in the control process:

1) Establishing Performance Standards

o Who designs, works with, and receives the output from controls.

o What is being monitored.

o Where monitoring efforts will take place (location and area)

o When controls will be used (before, during, or after operations).

o How monitoring will be used.

o What resources are available to expend on the controls

o Productivity is the amount of output achieved from the use of a

given amount of inputs - quantitatively or qualitatively.

o Quality or customer satisfaction begins with the standards and

methods used to recruit, hire, train, evaluate, and reward employees.

2) Measuring Performance

After standards are established, managers must measure actual performance to determine variation from standards. People and operations must be monitored and the information stored for later. Computers help with this task. The display and reports that these systems produce often show current standards and actual performance measurements.

3) Comparing Measured Performance

Compare actual performance to the standards set for that performance. If deviations from the standards exist, the evaluator must decide if they are significant – if they require corrective action. The evaluator must determine what is causing the variance.

4) Taking Corrective Action

After an employee determines the cause, or causes, of a significant deviation from a standard, he or she...