a) Control is the process of ensuring that actual activities conform to planned activities. In fact, control is more pervasive than planning. Control helps managers monitor the effectiveness of their planning, their organizing, and their leading activities. An essential part of the control process is taking corrective actions as needed.
STEPS IN THE CONTROL PROCESS
Robert J. Mockler’s definition of control points out the essential elements of the control process:
“Management control is a systematic effort to set performance standards with planning objectives, to design information feedback systems, to compare actual performance with these predetermined standards, to determine whether there are any deviations and to measure their significance, and to take any action required to assure that all corporate resources are being used in the most effective and efficient way possible in achieving corporate objectives”
Mockler’s definition divides control into four steps, described below:
1. Establish standards and methods for measuring performance
2. Measure the performance
3. Determine whether control performance matches the standard
4. Take corrective action
