STRATEGIC CONTROL

Strategic controlling is the process of monitoring and checking the

performance of strategic decisions, ensuring the effective implementation

of strategic plans and polices, identifying the problems and to take corrective

actions whenever required for achieving the desired organizational

objectives

Schreyogg and Steinmann (1987) have described Strategic Control as

“the critical evaluation of plans, activities, and results, thereby providing

information for the future action”.

According to Robert J Mockler, “Management control implies systematic

efforts to set standards to compare actual performance with the predetermined

standards, to determine whether there are any deviations and

to measure their significance so as to take any action required to assure

that all corporate resources are being used in the most effective and efficient

way”.
The above definition of Robert J Mockler has divided the controlling process

in various steps as follows.

i. To establish performance standards

ii. To measure organizational performance

iii. To measure the techniques

iv. To compare the performance with standards

v. To evaluate of deviations

vi. To take corrective actions

Let us discuss this steps in detail.

1. To establish performance standards:

This is the beginning steps of controlling process. The organization should

develop the standards of performances. While fixing the standards,

precaution should be taken about their specificity.

Some quantitative standards against the performance can be measured.

• Time standard

• Cost Standard

• Income standard

• Market share standard

• Return on investment
2. To measure organizational performance:
After the finalized the goals or objectives of the organization, the next step

is controlling process to measure the actual achieved organizational

performance as compared the fixed goals or objectives of the organization.

3.To select the techniques:

It is one of the difficult tasks to measure the actual performance in the

strategic decisions. There are various techniques to measure the efficiency

and effectiveness of strategic management. What is to be measured, how

to be measured, when to be measured or whether to be measured

continuously or periodically etc. are important objectives. These questions

provide right path for the measure the performance of strategy.

The following are some of the techniques of measurement:

• Financial measures :-It indicates the financial condition of the

business organization. It involves various ratios, relationship of

business variables to each others.

• Production measures:-It is related with outcome of activities to

the production related effort. It involves pre controls, concurrent

control and post controls measures.

Pre controls: - It involves the inputs of productions activities such

as men, machines, raw materials, capitals, etc. It is aimed at the

control of quality of inputs for the desired objectives. It ensures the

skilled personnel as per the requirement with quality of raw materials.

Con-current control:-It is also known as Production Scheduling. It

involves the timeframe work for the production activity. Program

Evaluation and Review techniques(PERT) facilitates concurrent

control.

Post Control:-It is also known as “Feedback Controls”. It measures

the results of completed actions or production activities.

• Marketing measures :-According to Smith, Arnold and Bizzell, there

are five categories to measures marketing performance.

Sales analysis

Market Share analysis:-

Marketing expenses to sales ratio

Customer attitude tracking

Efficiency Analysis

4. To compare performance with standards:-

The next step of controlling process is to compare the actual performance

with pre determined performance with standards. If there are not specified

standards performance, It would be difficult to measure the performance

and to identify the efficiency and effectiveness of strategic decisions.

5. To evaluate deviations:-
It is essential step before the deviation is corrected. The reasons should be

investigated. The main idea is to find the root cause for the deviations or

problems therefore it would never arise in the future also. The deviations

may be positive or negatives.

6.To take corrective actions:-

After the analysis and investigation, the final steps are arrived to take

corrective actions for remedy of the problem. The corrective actions should

be consistant to the internal and external environment of business. It should

be as per the company’s culture, philosophy, labour unions, rules and

regulation, etc. the following guidelines should taken into consideration while

taking corrective actions.

Types of Strategic Control
1. Premise Control in Strategic Control:
Premise control is being checked continuously and systematic

whether the premises set during the planning and

implementation process is still valid. If any premise is not suitable

to the internal or external situation, the strategy would modify or change

as per the requirement.It is always established during the formulation

of strategic planning process. It should be considered two basic

environmentfactors as follow.

• Environmental factors :It includes political, social,

technological and economical factors are prevailed in the external

business environment

• Industry factors :It consists of Competitors, Supplier and

Market conditions available for the Industry.

2. Strategic Surveillance in Strategic Control:

Strategic Surveillance is concerned within and outside of the

organization of variousranges of events that would effect on strategic

decisions and policies. The main aim of Strategic Surveillance is

monitoring of number of information systems as well as encouraged

the untapped information and opportunities for the effective

implementation of strategy. It is also similar to the environmental

scanning to identify new information’s and untapped opportunity. It is

also helped tosafeguard the established strategy.

3. Implementation Control in Strategic Control:

Implementation control strategies are applied when the events

are being started. It is involved numbers of events, plans; acts are

implemented to achieve organsational goals. It is further divided into

two types such as

• Strategic thrusts or projects:-It provides relevant information

that would help to frame the effective strategy decisions and plans.

• Milestone reviews:-It is process to monitor and review the

progress of strategy through specific intervals or milestone achieved.

4. Strategic Alert Control in Strategic Control:

It is applied at the time of unexpected events or occurring

suddenly situations which would impact on management strategy. It

is special alert control system for the rapid and meticulous

reassessment of strategy. Strategic alert control system is useful

during the emergency situation such as natural disasters, plane

crashes, product defects, hostile, chemical spills, etc.

 Importance of Strategic Control
Strategic control is process monitoring and evaluating of

strategies to achieve the desired objectives and make sure about the

smooth functioning of management strategies. If the desired objectives

are not achieved then the corrective steps or actions are taken into

consideration.

It helps the Manager to obtain quality, innovation, consistency in

the strategies, and complete the target within stipulated time.

.

• Control and quality: Quality of the products or Services

indicates the success and progress path of the organization in the

competitive environment. The feedback mechanism under the

evaluation systems played crucial role for the improvement of quality

of the product.

• Control and Efficiency: Efficiency indicates the output and

input ratio of production which includes all resources of the

organization. It is involved the production and the efforts of human

resources. The controlling system makes sure about everything goes

as per the strategy if not the corrective actions should take for the

efficiency under the production process.

• Control and innovations: Strategic control leads towards

innovative and creativity through continues monitoring and

implementing the effective actions to acheve desired results.Strategic

decision and policies ensure the appropriate controlling system and

evaluation increased the risk taking abilities and improved the skills of

management.

• Control and customers satisfaction: The success of the

strategic evaluation process is to measure the satisfaction level of

customers. An evaluation controlling system monitors and interacted

with employees through proper system and boosts the employees’

morale to provide better quality and services to the customers.

Customers are the backbone of the organization and if they

satisfied then our business also survived and progress therefore it is

essential to maintain satisfaction level among the employee.

Conclusion
Strategic evaluation process is to measure the efficiency and effectiveness

of strategic decisions. It identifies the desired results achieved by the

strategies decisions are not. It is being provided the right paths and directions

to achieve desired organisational goals. The strategic evaluation and

Controlling process indicates the organization whether achieved or not the

organizational objectives. The evaluation system has concentrate of three

mainly aspect s of strategy such as Appropriate strategy, Consistency

and feasible of strategy. Strategy should be appropriate to achieve desired

objectives of the organization and it should frame and formulate as per the

available resources and analyses the internal and external business

environment.

The controlling process makes sure about corrective strategies and actions

are required to achieve organisational target. It is related two concepts, one

is Strategic management set desired organisational goals and the other

one is controlling process for the accomplishment of management goals.

Operational control is part of Management control system. It is designed to

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