Control Function of Management

What is the control function of management? Well, simply put, controlling or

the control function of management is to influence how the organization goes

about meeting its goals and objectives through the adherence to standards. So

basically a manager who is undertaking the controlling function is monitoring and evaluating the conduct of individuals, groups, and units collectively to make certain

that in their activities, their operational activities, they're not deviating from the

pre-established standards. So, the controlling function generally consists of multiple steps. One, that is establishing performance standards, goals, and objectives that need to be met as

part of the overall organizational goals and objectives. Then you establish performance metrics to determine the progress in accomplishing those goals through the individual activities

You'll use various indicators throughout. Leading indicators are ones that are predetermined milestones or metrics that can identify where you need to be at a certain point in time

Pacing indicators are those that measure along with actual activity and performance And lagging indicators are metrics or evidence that presents itself after the fact to

determine whether activities were successful in meeting the objective goals or standards for the activity. Now once you establish these performance metrics

then you compare the results of the various activities subjects to these

standards against the objective criteria for those standards or the goals and

objectives themselves that you were trying to accomplish by virtue of the

activity to see what deviations there are. Were there any activities that did

not fulfill any goals or objectives? Were there activities that were not carried

out pursuant to the standards set for those activities? If you can identify

those, then you can go back after the fact and take corrective action. So there

is a continuous feedback loop that allows you to modify the process

continuously throughout and this thus improves process quality. So this is the

controlling function of management. Some of the more popular approaches to controlling function is the balance scorecard for one or the management by

objective approach incorporates detailed control mechanisms. So this is the controlling function of management