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Management Control System
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Objective of the course
Gain understanding of Management Control: – what is management control?– how can control be implemented?– what managementinformation is needed?– which organizational conditions?
Get students actively involved by using the case method
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Structure of the course
7 sessions Take-home cases Final examination:
– Take home case– Due date: 30 september 2008
Literature:– K. A. Merchant & W.A. van der Stede, 2003, Management
Control Systems, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0 273 65596 5OR– K. A. Merchant & W.A. van der Stede, 2007, Management
Control Systems, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0 273 7080 15
Website
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Structure of the course in detail1. Introduction Ch. 1 April 21
2. Control system design Ch. 2 & 3 May 6
3. Control tightness & side effects Ch. 4 & 5 & 6 May 19
4. Planning & budgetting and setting performance targets
Ch. 7 & 8 & 9 & 10
Ch. 7 & 8 & 9
June 2
5. Problems with accounting measures Ch. 11 & 12
Ch. 10 & 11
June 9
6. Management control roles & ethical issues
Ch. 14 & 15 June 16
7. Situational influences Ch. 16 & 17 June 23
Writing in blue: 2nd edition differs from 1st edn.
Wim Van der Stede
Management Control Systems
Chapter 1: Management and Control
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Management control ...
The process by which management:
– … ensures that people in the organization carryout organizational objectives and strategies;
– … encourages, enables, or, sometimes “forces”employees to act in the organization’s best interest.
Management control includes all the devices / mechanisms managers use to ensure that the behavior of employees is consistent with the organization’s objectives and strategies.
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Function and benefit of Management Control
Purpose / function ...
– get done what management wants to be done;– influence behavior in desirable ways.
Benefit …
– increased probability that the organization’s objectives will be achieved.
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Management and its components ...
Management …
– … the process of organizing resources and directing activities for the purpose of organizational objectives.
Process-breakdown …
» Objective setting; what goals do we want to achieve?» Strategy formulation; how are we going to realize these
goals?» Control: are we on track in realizing these goals?
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Objective setting ...
Objectives are …» a necessary prerequisite for any purposeful activities.
Without objectives, it is impossible …» to assess whether the employees’ actions are purposive;» to make claims about an organization’s success.
Objectives can be …
» financial versus non-financial;» quantified, explicit versus implicit;» economic, social, environmental, societal.
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Strategy formulation ...
An organization must select any of innumerableways of seeking to attain its objectives.
Strategies define how organizations shoulduse their resources to meet their objectives.
Hence, … strategies put constraints on employees to focus activities on what the organization does best or areas where it has an advantage over competitors.
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Control ...
Strategic control …» Is our strategy (still) valid?» Strategy revision -- “intended” vs. “emergent” strategies.
Management Control …
– Are our employees likely to behave appropriately? (design)
» Do they understand what we expect of them?
» Will they work consistently hard and try to do whatis expected of them?
» Are they capable of doing what is expected of them?
– Do our employees behave as expected? (execution)
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Planning and control ...
CONTROL
Strategy ImplementationManagement Control
PLANNING
Strategy FormulationStrategic Control
predominantly external focus; predominantly top-management responsibility; sometimes very unsystematic, implicit and/or emergent.
predominantly internal focus; relevant for every superior- subordinate relationship; more systematic and rhythmic.
OBJECTIVE SETTINGOBJECTIVE SETTING
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The planning / control cycle ...
Strategy Formulation
Strategy Implementation
Goals Objective SettingObjective Setting
Strategic ControlStrategic Control
Management ControlManagement Control
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The basic control problem ...
Management control is about encouragingPEOPLE to take desirable actions,
» i.e., it guards against the possibilities that employees willdo something the organization does not want them to do,or, fail to do something they should do.
Hence, management control has a ...
… BEHAVIORAL ORIENTATION !
If all personnel could always be relied on to do what is best for the organization, there would be no need for a management control system.
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Recall that ...
Management Control is about taking steps to help ensure that the employees do what is best for the organization.
Three issues:» Do they understand what we expect of them ...
Lack of direction
» Will they work consistently hard and try to do whatis expected of them ...
Lack of motivation
» Are they capable of doing what is expected of them ...
Personal limitations
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Lack of direction ...
Employees do not know what the organizationwants from them.
When this lack of direction occurs, the likelihood of the desired behaviors occurring is obviously small.
Remedy: COMMUNICATION + REINFORCEMENT !
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Motivational problems ...
When employees ‘choose’ not to perform astheir organization would have them perform.
Because …– Lack of goal congruence
» Individual goals do not coincide with organizational goals.
– Self-interested behavior
» Generally, individuals are prone to being “lazy” ... e.g., take long lunches, overspend on things that make
life more pleasant, use of sick leaves when not sick, etc.
» More extreme examples of motivational problems: Employee crime (fraud and theft).
Statement!!
Remedies?
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Personal limitations … Sometimes, people are “unable” to do a good job because of
certain personal limitations they have.
Some examples / causes:– lack of requisite knowledge, training, experience;
– employees are promoted above their level of competence;
– some jobs are not designed properly;
– etc.
Remedies:
– Training
– Job assignment / promotion
– Job design
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Management control is more than ...
A simple cybernetic control system involvinga single feedback loop, like a thermostat …
» Detector measure performance;» Assessor compare with pre-set standard;» Effector take corrective action.
Many controls don’t focus on measured performance ...» e.g., direct supervision, employee hiring standards,
codes of conduct.
Many controls are proactive rather than reactive …» i.e., they are designed to prevent control problems before the
organization suffers any adverse effects on performance.
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Control and “good” control ...
Again, … management controls include all the devices managers use to ensure that the behaviors and decisionsof people are consistent with the organization’s objectivesand strategies.
““GOOD CONTROL”GOOD CONTROL” is said to take place when there is …
– a “high” probability that the firm’s objectives will be achieved;– a “low” probability that major unpleasant surprises will occur.
Therefore, controls must be:
» Future-oriented» Objectives-driven» Economically desirable
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Control can be achieved through ...
Control Problem Avoidance
Management Control Systems
» Action Controls;
» Results Controls;
» People Controls.
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Control-problem avoidance ...
Three strategies …
– Activity elimination» e.g., subcontracts, licensing agreements, divestment.
– Automation» Computers / robots eliminate the human problems
of inaccuracy, inconsistency, and lack of motivation;» Only applicable to relatively easy decision situations;» Automation can be very costly.
– Centralization» Superiors reserve for themselves the most critical
decisions.
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Control alternatives …
Controls can focus on:
– the actions taken
– the results produced
– the types of peopleemployed and theirshared values andnorms.
Or any combination of those ...Or any combination of those ...
ACTION CONTROLS
RESULTS CONTROLS
PEOPLE CONTROLS
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Depending on ...
Ability to measure results on important performance dimensions
Kn
owledg
e of w
hich specific actions are
desirab
leHigh Low
Exc
elle
ntP
oor
Action Controland/or
Results ControlAction Control
(e.g., large projects)
Results Control(e.g., movie director,
SBU-manager)
People Control(e.g., research lab)
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Overview ...
Can people be avoided?(e.g., automation, centralization)
Control-problemavoidance
Can you rely on people involved?
Can you make people reliable?
Have knowledge about what specific actions are desirable?
Able to assess whetherspecific action was taken?
Have knowledge about whatresults are desirable? Able to measure results?
YesNo
Yes
No
No
Action controls
People controls
Results controls
Yes
Yes
YesNo
YesNo
?
Yes
