Describe seven qualities of an effective control system.

1)Controls .tailored to plans and positions
Control techniques and systems should reflect the plans they are designed to follow. Every plan
or every phase of a plan will have its unique characteriStics. Managers will need to know and
should know the information that will tell them how the plans for which they are responsible are
progressing. Controls for following a personnel training program are different from controls for a
marketing programme. Controls should also be tailored. to positions. A supervisor will need
different controls from a president. Controls for sales department will differ from those for
finance or production. Controls should also reflect the organization pattern'i.e. the'roles of people
in the organization. These roles show where responsibility for various activities lies. The more
the controls reflect the positiOns where responsibility lies the easier it is to correct deviations.
ii) Controls should be tailored to individual managers and their personalities
Control .system should be designed to help individual managers carry out their functions.
Therefore there is need for the controls to be understood by the various managers. People in
different fields will have their information in different ways e.g. statisticians will want controls
expressed in complex tables. Control information must be simple enough to be understood by
those who are to use it.
iii) Controls should point exceptions at critical points
If controls are to be efficient and effective they must be able to point out exceptions at critical
points. Some deviations from standards have little meaning while others have serious effects on
performance. The points at which deviations occur are important e.g. a large deviation in costs
may be less serious than an unpleasant response from customers or a 5% deviation of labour
costs will be more serious than 30% deviation in duplicating or postage. Some points in the
organization are critical while others are inconsequential.
iv) Controls should be objective
Although management contains many subjective elements, good performance should ideally not
be a matter for subjective determination. Objective standards can be-quantitative such as costs or
labour hours or even sometimes quantitative but the standard should be determined and
verifiable.
v) Controls should be flexible
Controls should be adjustable to changing plans and circumstances. For example, in production
management the production manager must prepare for failures occasioned by machine breakdown or from illness of one or more workers. Flexibility in control can be provided by
having alternative plans for various probable situations.
vi) Control systems should fit the organizational climate
Organizational climate refers to the general mode of orientation e.g. have people been given
freedom, and is there participative management and free communication. An organization which,
allows greater freedom would not suit tight controls. A dictatorial climate would be unsuitable
for a permissive or relatively free control system.
vii) Controls should be economical
Controls must be worth their cost, but will vary with the importance of the activity, the size of
the operation etc. Small companies will of course not afford the extensive control systems of
large companies.
Economy can be achieved if managers select only critical points for control i.e. controls must be
tailored to the job and to the size of the firm. Controls should be able to achieve the principle of
efficiency of controls i.e. control system or techniques and approaches are efficient when they
detect and illuminate the causes of actual or potential deviations from plans with the minimum of
costs or other unfavourable consequences.
viii) Controls should lead to corrective action.
The essence of controls is corrective action. Adequate controls should indicate where failures are
occurring and those who are responsible. Control is justified only if indicated deviations are
corrected through appropriate planning, organizing, staffing and leading.

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Kavungya answered the question on May 18, 2019 at 07:51