Management Control

Identifies the control function as a central theme in the management process. The essential ingredients of control include the specification of a goal (or goals), a measurement task, feedback information on performance, and the decision to take corrective action. The absence of any of these ingredients can only result in the action. The absence of any of these ingredients can only result in the management activity becoming ineffectual or even meaningless. A manager may, therefore, be identified as a controller of a system, and the book proceeds to explore first the relationships between a controller and his system and secondly the interactions between several controllers operating within the same system. The nature of the decision making process is then analysed and various types of decisions are identified, followed by a discussion of problems associated with organizational design.
 
Identifies the control function as a central theme in the management process. The essential ingredients of control include the specification of a goal (or goals), a measurement task, feedback information on performance, and the decision to take corrective action. The absence of any of these ingredients can only result in the action. The absence of any of these ingredients can only result in the management activity becoming ineffectual or even meaningless. A manager may, therefore, be identified as a controller of a system, and the book proceeds to explore first the relationships between a controller and his system and secondly the interactions between several controllers operating within the same system. The nature of the decision making process is then analysed and various types of decisions are identified, followed by a discussion of problems associated with organizational design.