Strategic Control Processes in Business Management

The Relationship Between Planning and Control

Control is based on the existence of planning; without a plan, there would be nothing to control. The controller acts as a verification of what has been done, and the check makes sense only when there is something to confront or compare: that something is the PLAN.

Control is a process that determines what is being done and what has been achieved, evaluating and implementing corrective actions to redirect the action (direction) toward the goals (planning), and possibly reformulating the plans. Control should apply to all levels and in all areas where action or direction of any kind occurs. Control should not be confined to certain areas but should cover all the actions of the company. Control is dynamic; its results shed light on the process. Its essence is to review and then correct the plan, or plan anew, and then regain control.

Feedback Mechanisms in Control Systems

1. The corrective control: This is its essence, as it leads to decisions that can modify the action (direction). This is known as negative feedback, and it is so called not because it encloses a bad or adverse effect, but because it causes a current in the opposite direction to the deviation.

2. Positive feedback control or morphogenesis: This is the type that leads the movement of targets in the same direction as the deviation.

Control and Motivation: Group Feedback

This occurs when the group is actively and effectively involved in the control of its work. Needs: The needs of individuals and groups that interact are also vital elements that, through monitoring, can help be met. Basically, it comes down to control being a visible and effective motivation for its role in making corrective performance effective.

Common Types of Management Controls

Controls can be categorized as quantitative, quality, time, and money.

• Audit: This is used to control financial statements, assessing accounting and financial operations, and evaluating general administrative performance. This is often called internal control.
• Budgetary control: This deals with the budget and compliance over time.

The Four Stages of the Control Process

• Determine the control base: This base is nothing other than the proposed targets or goals to be achieved.
• Measuring or judging what has been done: To control, it is necessary to determine what was done in order to compare it with the program. Determining what has been done can be quantitative if the goal is quantitative, or qualitative if the goal is qualitative.
• Compare what was done with the program: The relationship between the two previous stages—what was scheduled and what was done—is the control itself.
• Analyze and correct deviations: This is the fundamental task of control.

General Principles of Effective Control

• The Principle of Self-Control: Whenever we perform an action, with varying degrees of awareness, we establish a control.
• Principle of Exception: Control becomes more efficient and performs better when the focus of analysis and corrections is on the most important or significant deviations.
• The Economy: Cost control is vital; the principle of economy tells us that the control should not be more expensive than what is being controlled.