管理学罗宾斯9版教师手册(I).doc

CHAPTER14FOUNDATIONS OF CONTROLLEARNING OUTCOMES After reading this chapter students should be able to:1. Explain the nature and importance of control.2. Describe the three steps in the control process.3. Discuss the types of controls organizations and managers use.4. Discuss contemporary issues in control.Management MythMYTH: Control only takes place after the fact.TRUTH: Many managers are using “feedforward controls,” which is preventing problems before they occur.Teaching Tips: The Space Shuttle Challenger, Three-Mile Island, and Chernobyl are just three examples that come to mind when thinking of poor controls. Have students think of other (more current) disasters. Encourage them to think about what went wrong. What were these organizations trying to accomplish? What could have been done to prevent these disasters?I. WHAT IS CONTROL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?A. What is Control?1. Control is the management function involving the process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations. a) An effective control system ensures that activities are completed in ways that lead to the attainment of the organizations goals. b) The effectiveness of a control system is determined by how well it facilitates goal achievement.Right or Wrong?The practice is called “sweethearting.” Its when cashiers use subtle tricks to pass free goods to friends, doing things such as concealing the barcode, slipping an item behind the scanner, passing two items at a time but only charging for one. Its impossible for even the most watchful human eyes to keep it from happening. So retailers are using technology to block it. Surveillance cameras are used to record and study cashiers staffing checkout lines.Discuss This: Is surveillance less invasive when its a computer watching instead of a human? Discuss. How could an organizations make sure its being ethical in monitoring employees?Teaching Tips:Try to get students to consider both the positive and negatives of this issue. On one side, people may feel that organizations are only protecting their interest by recording the action of employees. In some cases, these techniques could clear up erroneous allegations against an employee and clear an employee of any wrong doing. On the other side, there is the fear that employee monitoring may go too far. Some companies have gone as far as placing surveillance equipment in employee locker rooms where they change clothes. Some companies hire private investigators to monitor what employees do outside of work. To be more ethical minded, employers need to make employees aware the possibility of which behaviors are being watchedB. Why is Control Important?1. There is no assurance that activities are going as planned and that the goals managers are seeking are, in fact, being attained. 2. Control is the final link in the functional chain of management. 3. The value of control lies predominantly in planning, empowering employees, protecting the workplace. II. WHAT TAKES PLACE AS MANAGERS CONTROL?Learning Catalytics Question: Instructor Directions and Follow-UpQuestion TypeQuestionAnswer/ResponseFor the InstructorMany ChoicesWhat are the three steps in the control process?The correct response is: Management function that involves monitoring activities to ensure that theyre being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations.Students dont often consider the relationship between the control process and managerial decision making. Use this to test their understanding of the process.A. Introduction1. Three separate and distinct steps: (1) measuring actual performance, (2) comparing actual performance against a standard, and (3) taking managerial action to correct deviations or inadequate standards. (See Exhibit 14-1.) B. What Is Measuring? 1. See Exhibit 14-2.2. The first step in control.3. How do managers measure?a) Four common sources of information frequently used by managers to measure actual performance are personal observation, statistical reports, oral reports, and written reports. b) Personal observation provides firsthand, intimate knowledge of the actual activity.(1) It is not filtered by others.(2) It permits intensive coverage.(3) It provides opportunities for the manager to “read between the lines.” (4) Management by walking around (MBWA)used to describe when a manager is out in the work area, interacting directly with employees, and exchanging information about whats going on.(5) Personal observation is often considered an inferior information source. (a) It is subject to perceptual biases.(b) Personal observation also consumes a good deal of time.(c) It suffers from obtrusiveness. c) Statistical reports (computer outputs, graphs, bar charts, etc.) provide managers information about actual performance.(1) It is easy to visualize and effective for showing relationships.(2) It provides limited information about an activity and generally only reports on a few key areas.d) Information can also be acquired through oral reportsthat is, through conferences, meetings, one-on-one conversations, or telephone calls. (1) The advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of personal observation. (2) The information is filtered.(3) It is fast and allows for feedback.(4) It permits expression and tone of voice, as well as words themselves to convey meaning. (5) One of the major drawbacks of oral reports has been the problem of documenting information for later referencestechnological capabilities to efficiently tape and provide permanent record overcomes this drawback. e) Actual performance may also be measured by written reports. (1) They are slower yet more formal.(2) Formality gives them greater comprehensiveness and conciseness.(3) Written reports are usually easy to catalog and reference.f) Comprehensive control efforts by managers should use all four measurement techniques.4. What do Managers Measure?a) What is measured is more critical to the control process than how it is measured. b) The selection of the wrong criteria can result in serious dysfunctional consequences. c) What is measured determines what people in the organization will attempt to excel at.d) Some control criteria are applicable to any management situation. (1) Criteria such as employee satisfaction or turnover and absenteeism rates can be measured. (2) Most managers have budgets for their area of responsibility set in monetary units and keeping costs within budget can be measured.e) Any comprehensive control system needs to recognize the diversity of activities among managers. f) Some activities are more difficult to measure in quantifiable terms. (1) But most activities can be broken down into objective segments that allow for measurement.(2) The manager needs to determine what value a person, department, or unit contributes to the organization and then convert the contribution into standards.g) Most jobs and activities can be expressed in tangible and measurable terms. h) When a performance indicator cannot be stated in quantifiable terms, managers should look for and use subjective measures. i) Certainly, subjective measures have significant limitations. j) Any analysis or decisions made on the basis of subjective criteria should recognize the limitations of the data.C. How do managers compare actual performance to planned goals? 1. The comparing step determines the degree of discrepancy between actual performance and the standard. 2. It is critical to determine the acceptable range of variation. (See Exhibit 14-3.) a) In the comparison stage, managers are particularly concerned with the size and direction of the variation. 3. Chris Tanner is the sales manager for Green Earth Gardening, example.4. Exhibit 14-4 presents the standard and actual sales figures for June. 5. Both over-variance and under-variance require managerial attention. From the Past to the PresentBenchmarking has been a highly utilized management tool to promote quality. Although Xerox is often credited with the first widespread benchmarking effort in the United States, the practice can actually be traced back much further than that. The benefits of benchmarking have long been recognized Company plant where he was employed, Frederick W. Taylor (of scientific management fame) used concepts of benchmarking to find the “one best way” to perform a job and to find the best worker to perform the job.Today, managers in diverse industries such as health care, education, and financial services are discovering the benefits of benchmarking. At its most basic, benchmarking means learning from others. However, as a tool for monitoring and measuring organizational and work performance, benchmarking can be used to identify specific performance gaps and potential areas of improvement.Discuss This: What are the benefits of benchmarking? What are the challenges in doing it?Teaching Tips:It should be easy for students to find examples of companies engaging in benchmarking. Simply type in benchmarking in Google! What might be useful is for students to think about how they use benchmarking to improve their own performance. Have students identify their own personal examples of benchmarking in the following areas:1. Personal Fitness2. Education3. Building Relationships D. What Managerial Action Can Be Taken? 1. The third and final step in the control process is taking managerial action. 2. Managers can choose among three courses of action: they can do nothing; they can correct the actual performance; or they can revise the standard. a) Doing nothing is fairly self-explanatory.3. How Do You Correct Actual Performance?a) If the source of the variation has been deficient performance, the manager will want to take corrective action.(1) Make another decision; take immediate or basic corrective action? (2) Immediate corrective action corrects problems at once and gets performance back on track. (3) Basic corrective action asks how and why performance has deviated and then proceeds to correct the source of deviation. (4) It is not unusual for managers to rationalize that they do not have the time to take basic corrective action and therefore must be content to perpetually put out fires with immediate corrective action.(5) Effective managers analyze deviations, and when the benefits justify it, take the time to permanently correct significant variances between standard and actual performance.4. How Do You Revise the Standard?a) It is also possible that the variance was a result of an unrealistic standardthat is, the goal may have been too high or too low. (1) The standard needs corrective attention, not the performance. (2) The more troublesome problem is the revising of a performance standard downward. (3) It may be true that standards are too high.(4) But keep in mind that if employees or managers dont meet the standard, the first thing they are likely to do is to attack the standard itself. b) If you believe that the standard is realistic, hold your ground.(1) Explain your position, reaffirm to the employee or manager that you expect future performance to improve, and then take the necessary corrective action to turn that expectation into reality.III. WHAT SHOULD MANAGERS CONTROL? Learning Catalytics Question: Instructor Directions and Follow-UpQuestion TypeQuestionAnswer/ResponseFor the InstructorShort AnswerWhat is feedforward control?There is no correct answer.Feedforward controls can be very challenging to understand. Use this question at the start of class to lead discussion on the concept. A. See Exhibit 14-5. B. What Is Feedforward Control?1. The most desirable type of controlfeedforward controlprevents anticipated problems. a) It takes place in advance of the actual activity. b) Its future-directed.c) The key to feedforward control is taking managerial action before a problem occurs.2. Feedforward controls allow management to prevent problems rather than having to cure them.a) These controls require timely and accurate information that is often difficult to develop. C. When Is Concurrent Control Used?1. It takes place while an activity is in progress. 2. Management can correct problems before they become too costly.3. The best-known form of concurrent control is direct supervision. a) Technical equipment can be designed to include concurrent controls. D. Why Is Feedback Control So Popular?1. The most popular type of control relies on feedback. a) The control takes place after the action.2. The major drawback of this type of control is that by the time the manager has the information, the damage has already been done. a) Its analogous to locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen. 3. Feedback has two advantages over feedforward and concurrent control.a) First, feedback provides managers with meaningful information on how effective their planning efforts were. b) Second, feedback control can enhance employee motivation. E. Keeping Track: What Gets Controlled?1. Every business wants to earn a profit and to achieve this goal, managers need financial controls. 2. Traditional financial measures managers might use include ratio analysis and budget analysis. 3. Exhibit 14-6 summarizes some of the most popular financial ratios that managers will analyze. 4. Budgets are another type of financial control tool that are used for planning and controlling.F. Keeping track of organizations information.1. Managers deal with information controls in two ways: (1) as a tool to help them control other organizational activities and (2) as an organizational area they need to control. 2. A management information system (MIS) is a system used to provide managers with needed information on a regular basis.a) The term system in MIS implies order, arrangement, and purpose.b) An MIS focuses specifically on providing managers with information (processed and analyzed data), not merely data (raw, unanalyzed facts)3. Managers must have comprehensive and secure controls in place to protect that information.4. Equipment such as laptop computers and even RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags are vulnerable to viruses and hacking, so information controls should be monitored regularly to ensure that all possible precautions are in place to protect important information.G. Keeping track using a balanced scorecard approach.1. A balanced scorecard typically looks at four areas that contribute to a companys performance: financial, customer, internal processes, and people/innovation/growth assets. According to this approach, managers should develop goals in each of the four areas and then measure whether the goals are being met.IV. WHAT CONTEMPORARY CONTROL ISSUES DO MANAGERS CONFRONT?A. Do Controls Need to be Adjusted for Cultural Differences? 1. Methods of controlling employee behavior and operations can be quite different in foreign countries. 2. The differences in organizational control systems of global organizations are primarily in the measurement and corrective action steps of the control process.3. Managers of foreign operations of global corporations tend not to be closely controlled by the home office.a) Distance keeps managers from being able to observe work directly.b) The home office of a global company often relies on extensive formal reports for control.c) The global company may also use the power of information technology to control work activities. 4. Technologys impact on control is most evident in comparing technologically advanced nations with more primitive countries. a) Organizations in technologically advanced nations use indirect control devicesparticularly computer-related reports and analyses in addition to standardized rules and direct supervision to ensure that activities are going as planned.b) In less technologically advanced countries, direct supervision and highly centralized decision making are the basic means of control.5. Constraints on what corrective action managers can take may affect managers in foreign countries. a) Laws in some countries do not allow managers the option of closing facilities, laying off employees, or bringing in a new management team from outside the country.6. Another challenge for global companies in collecting data is comparability.Technology and the Managers Job-Monitoring EmployeesSummaryTechnological advances have made the process of controlling much easier. But these advances have also brought with them difficult questions regarding what managers have the right to know and how far they can go in controlling employee behavior. Although controlling employees behaviors on and off the job may appear unjust or unfair, nothing in our legal system prevents employers from engaging in these practices. Managers typically defend their actions in terms of ensuring quality, productivity, and proper employee behavior.Discuss This: When does managements need for information about employee performance cross the line and interfere with a workers right to privacy? Is any action by management acceptable as long as employees are notified ahead of time that they will be monitored?Teaching Tips:It is almost impossible for organizations to watch everything employees do. As soon as organizations find a way to monitor one behavior, employees find a way to circumvent the monitoring device or engage in another unapproved behavior. This struggle has been going on since organizations first started. It also starts at a very early age. Have students brainstorm ways that they have tried to outsmart their