Controlling
Controlling is examined through its process, its link with planning, and the principles of critical point control and management by exception.
Meaning and process
Control compares actual performance with standards and takes corrective action. Steps: set standards, measure performance, compare, analyse deviations, take corrective action. Control is backward-looking through feedback and forward-looking because it feeds planning.
Types
- Feedforward: before the operation, such as checking incoming raw material.
- Concurrent: during the operation, such as real-time supervision.
- Feedback: after the operation, such as analysing after-sales complaints.
Key principles
Critical point control focuses on key result areas. Management by exception means attending only to significant deviations, leaving small ones to subordinates.
Worked example
Standard output is 800 units a day; actual is 720; tolerance is 8%. Deviation = (720 − 800)/800 × 100 = −10%. Since 10% exceeds 8%, the manager must investigate. Root cause: bearing failure. Corrective action: weekly preventive maintenance. Reasoning: the negative sign shows an adverse deviation, its size triggers exception reporting, and correction must address the cause, not the symptom.
Traps
- Treating control as only the last function; it feeds back into planning.
- Omitting the sign in the deviation formula.
- Reading management by exception as ignoring all deviations.
- Offering feedback control as an example of feedforward control.