TOPIC 8: CONTROLLING

TOPIC OUTLINE

 Definition of control
 The importance of controlling in public sector
 The steps in the controlling process in public sector
 Types of control in public sector:
 Feedback
 Feed forward
 Concurrent
Definitions of Controlling

The process of The process to assure

monitoring, comparing, that actual activities
and correcting work conform to planned
performance activities

Appropriate controls
A process of monitoring
can help managers
performance and
look for specific
taking action to ensure
performance gaps and
desired results.
areas for improvement
Organizational Control
The systematic process through which
managers regulate organizational activities to
make them consistent with the expectations
established in plans, and to help them
achieve all predetermined standards of
performance.
This definition implies that leaders must:
Establish performance standards
Develop mechanisms for gathering
performance information in order to assess
the degree to which standards are being
 To discover
irregularities
& errors

To reduce
To detect The costs,
increase
opportunities
Importance productivity,
or add value

of
Controlling in
Public Sector
To
decentralize
To adapt to
decision
change &
making &
uncertainty
facilitate
teamwork
The steps in the controlling process in
public sector
1. Establish standards and methods for measuring the
performance standard
- Whenever possible, the standards should be set in a
manner that allows them to be compared with actual
performance.
2. Measure the performance – what, when and how
frequently to measure
- An organization must decide:
What to measure.
When to measure.
How frequently to measure.
3. Determine whether performance matches the standards
- This step involves determining if actual performance
compared to standards falls within acceptable limits.

4. Take corrective action

- Ifthe deviation from performance is unacceptable, then
corrective action is warranted.
- If the deviation is acceptable, no correction action is
necessary.
Types of control in public sector:

Feedforward Concurrent Feedback

 Pre-Action control (Feed-forward)/
Preventive control
 The most desirable type of control
 It prevents problems because it takes place before the actual
activity.
 To anticipate potential problems and prevent them from
occurring.
 Problems can be prevented rather than requiring correction
after any damage
 Focuses on detecting undesirable material, financial, or human
resources that serve as inputs to the transformation process
 EXAMPLE : McDonald sent company quality control experts to
help Russian Farmers lean techniques for growing high quality
potatoes and to help bakers learn processes for baking high
quality breads.
 Steering Control (Concurrent Control)
The control takes place while a work activity is in
progress.
If the manager see something tht is not working
particularly well, they fine-tune it.
The best known form of concurrent control is direct
supervision (management by walking around).
To spot a problem as they developed and take
corrective action before final results are achieved
 Post- Action Control /Feedback (Corrective
Control)
 The control takes place after the activity is done.
 The damaged had already occurred, even though the organization
corrected the problem when it was discovered.
 The advantages of this tool is it can enhance motivation. People
want to know how well they’re doing, and feedback provides that
information.
 Focuses on discovering undesirable output and implementing
corrective action
 Attempts to measure the results after control
 EXAMPLE: Participants fill the exit survey after attending course
Pre-process In-process Post-process
 Potential Barriers To Successful
Control
1. Long-term versus short-term production
Burdens to manager because they needs to ensure that
planned performance and actual performance are
equivalent in the short-term and long-term production
quotas.

2. Employee Frustrations And Morale

When management exerts too much control and too
rigid, employee morale tends to be low and frustrated
because they think that there is no freedom for them to
do a good job.
 Potential Barriers To Successful
Control
3. Perspective of organization members
Although controls can be designed to focus on relatively narrow aspects of an organization,
manager must remember that prospective corrective action is not only relation to the specific
activity being control but also relation to all other organization units.

4. Means versus ends

Control activities are not the goals of the control process, they are merely the means to
eliminating problems. Corrective actions are activities that can be justified only if they yield
some organizational benefit that exceeds the cost of performing them.

5. Filing of reports
Employees may perceive that management is base on corrective action solely on department
records with no regard for extenuating circumstances. If this is the case they may feel pressured
to falsify records.
 Criteria for Effective Control

1) Related to Organizational Strategy

A control system should measure what is
important now and what will be important in the
future… not what was important in the past.
2) Utilizes All Steps in the Control Process
To be effective, a control system must employ
all of the steps in the control process.
 Criteria for Effective Control (cont…)
3) Composed of Objective and Subjective
Measures
Effective control systems typically require
managers to blend quantitative (objective) and
qualitative (subjective) performance measures.
4) Incorporates Timeliness in Feedback Reporting
Timeliness is the degree to which the control
system provides information when it is needed.
 Criteria for Effective Control (cont…)
5) Acceptable to a Diverse Work Force
To be effective, organizational controls must be
accepted by employees.
The control system should motivate workers to
recognize standards and act to achieve them.
6) Corrective action
An effective control system should be able to
suggest what action to be taken t correct
deviations and also indicates when deviation
from standard occurs.
 Characteristics Of An
Effective Control Systems
1. Accurate (information)
2. Timely
3. Objective and comprehensive
4. Focused on Strategic Control Points (Strategic
and result oriented)
5. Flexibility
6. Consistent with organization’s structure
(organizationally realistic)