Welcome to AB140 Introduction to Management Unit 6 Seminar – Control.

Welcome to AB140 Introduction to Management

Unit 6 Seminar – Control

Agenda

• General Questions and Announcements• Introduction• Four Steps of Control Systems • The Role of Six Sigma • Internal vs. External Audits • Unit 6 Coursework • Conclusion of Seminar

Unit 6 Quiz

• 20 Questions• Topics: POLC• Allowed to enter Quiz one time• Have 2 hours to complete• Sample question slides at the end of this PowerPoint

Introduction

• Control is one of the four primary functions of management.

• Control is any process that directs activities toward the achievement of organizational goals.

• Formal Control Systems (also referred to as Bureaucratic Control Systems) measure progress toward organizational goals, making corrections and adjustments as needed.

Seminar Item 1: Control Systems

Bureaucratic Control Systems: Formal control systems designed to measure progress toward set performance goals and, if necessary, to apply corrective measures to ensure that performance achieves managers’ objectives.

stdrds

measure

variance

correct

4 Steps of Control Systems

1. Setting Performance Standards

2. Measuring Performance

3. Comparing performance against the standards and determining deviations

4. Taking action to correct problems and reinforce successes

Step 1 of Control Systems:

1. Setting performance standards

– Standard - expected performance for a given goal, a target that establishes a desired performance level; motivates performance, and serves as a benchmark against which actual performance is assessed

– Can you think of an example of a goal and its standard in your workplace?

Step 2 of Control Systems:

2. Measuring performance

How are performance goals measured in your workplace?

Step 3 of Control Systems:

3. Comparing performance against the standards and determining deviations

What methods do you or your managers use to perform this step?

Step 4 of Control Systems:

4. Taking action to correct problems and reinforce successes

Can you name some methods that managers use to correct problems or reinforce successes in your workplace?

Bureaucratic Control Process

• Feedforward control – takes place before operations begin; i.e. policies, procedures, rules

• Concurrent control – takes place while plans are being carried out; i.e. directing, monitoring, fine-tuning

• Feedback control – use of information about results to correct deviations from acceptable standards, i.e. six sigma

Seminar Item 2: Six Sigma

• What is the role of Six Sigma?-Let’s begin by defining it. What is Six Sigma?

Six Sigma

• Six Sigma is a quality management concept that has the goal of eliminating defects from a company’s product or service.

• It involves adjusting various aspects of and around the product or service until it is consistently what the customers want and need.

• The term “sigma” refers to how far a product or service is from being “perfect”, free of defects (relative to customers’ wants and needs).

• This state of “perfection” or being as free of defects as possible is believed to be achieved at Six Sigma.

Role of Six Sigma

• The higher the sigma number, the lower the level of variation or defects.

• At six-sigma-level, a process is producing fewer than 3.4 defects per million (approximately 99.99966 accuracy)

Role of Six Sigma, (continued)

• For those organizations that use this tool, the management works hard to engage the organization in an effort to eliminate the causes of all defects in the product or service.

-One approach that managers may use to address defects is to place employees in work teams that focus on finding improvements and solutions that will prevent a certain defect from arising in the first place.

Seminar Item 3: Audits

• Discuss internal vs. external audits

-What is an internal audit?-What is an external audit?

Audits

• External Audit - an evaluation conducted by one organization, such as a CPA firm, on another

• Internal Audit - a periodic assessment of a company’s own planning, organizing, leading, and controlling processes

• Have you ever participated in an audit at your workplace? What type of audit was it? What were some of the pros and cons of the audit experience that you noticed?

Audit experience?

Downside of Bureaucratic Control

What do you think are some negative consequences of bureaucratic control in the workplace?

• Rigid Bureaucratic Behavior – people act in ways that will look good on control system’s measures

• Tactical Behavior - employees engage in tactics aimed at “beating the system”

• Resistance-More accountability-Changes social structure creating competition-Invasion of privacy -Can change expertise and power structure

Downside of Bureaucratic Control

Effective Control Systems

How can managers make control systems more effective?

Effective Control Systems

• Establish valid performance standards• Provide adequate information• Ensure acceptability to employees• Maintain open communication• Use multiple approaches

Sample Unit 6 Quiz Question 1

1) Wide spans of control build __________ organizations.

A. Tall

B. Flat

C. Narrow

D. Centralized

Sample Unit 6 Quiz Question 2

2) Which type of power is dominant when a leader has the authority to tell others what to do?

A. Expert Power

B. Reward Power

C. Coercive Power

D. Legitimate Power

Sample Unit 6 Quiz Question 3

3) Planning involves which of the following?

A. Attracting people to the organization

B. Determining objectives

C. Determining rewards for goal achievement

D. Motivating people to achieve their job’s goals

Sample Unit 6 Quiz Question 4

4) What type of control focuses on the use of performance data to correct deviations from acceptable standards?

A. Feedback control

B. Preliminary control

C. Specialist control

D. Feedforward control

Sample Unit 6 Quiz Question 5

5) Leading focuses on a manager’s efforts to:

A. Communicate with employees

B. Motivate the workforce

C. Staff the organization

D. Both A and B

Responses Sample Quiz Questions

Responses: 1. B, 2. D, 3. B, 4. A. 5. C

Unit 6 Coursework

• Reading: Chapter 13 in the Bateman and Snell text; Web readings

• Discussion: Focus is “control systems”. Do Dalman and Lei need one to solve an issue? Why or why not?

• Assignment: Focus on “4 steps of control systems”. Help Lei solve issue using Bureaucratic Control

• Quiz: 20 multiple choice questions concerning planning, organizing, leading and controlling

Thank You for Attending