Slide 3.

Chapter 3: Action, Personnel, and Cultural Controls

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.2

Action controls

Ensure that employees perform (or do not perform) certain actions known to be beneficial (or harmful) to the organization Prevention / detection
Most action controls are aimed at preventing undesirable behaviors

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.3

Effectiveness of action controls

They are usable and effective only when managers:

Know what actions are desirable Difficult in highly complex and uncertain task environments (e.g., research engineers or top-level managers) Have the ability to make sure that the desirable actions occur For example, effectiveness of organizational procedures?

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.4

Behavioral constraints

Physical
Locks, passwords, limited access, etc.

Administrative
Restriction of decision-making authority Separation of duties, etc.

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.5

Preaction reviews

Scrutiny of action plans, investment proposals, budgets

Review and approval Part and parcel in (capital) budgeting processes, which are otherwise mainly a results control mechanism

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.6

Action accountability

Holding employees accountable for the actions they take

It requires:
Defining what actions are (un)acceptable Communicating these definitions to employees

For example, work rules, policies and procedures, codes of conduct

Observing or otherwise tracking what happens

Direct observation/supervision Periodic tracking (e.g., mystery shoppers) Evidence of actions taken (e.g., activity reports)

[Rewarding good actions, or] punishing actions that deviate

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.7

Redundancy

Assigning more people (or machines) to a task than necessary

For example, backup people or facilities

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.8

Pros and cons of action controls

PRO

CON

The most direct form of control Tend to lead to documentation of the accumulation of knowledge as to what works best
Organizational memory

Only for routine jobs May discourage creativity, innovation and adaptation May cause sloppiness May cause negative attitudes

An efficient way of coordination

For example, little opportunity That is, they increase the for creativity and selfpredictability of actions and reduce actualization the amount of inter-organizational information flows to achieve a Sometimes very costly coordinated effort

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.9

Personnel/cultural controls

People controls (for short) ensure that employees:

Will control their own behaviors

Personnel control Self monitoring

Will control each other

Cultural controls Mutual monitoring

People controls are part of virtually every management control system, and indispensable in flatter and leaner organizations with empowered employees
Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.10

Personnel controls

Personnel controls build on employees natural tendencies to control themselves, because most people
have a conscience that leads them to do what is right find self-satisfaction when they do a good job and see their organization succeed

Labels ...

Self-control Intrinsic motivation Ethics and morality Trust and atmosphere Loyalty

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.11

Implementing personnel controls

Generally, it is about
finding the right people, giving them a good work environment and the necessary resources

Selection and placement

Finding the right people to do a particular job

Training
Give employees a greater sense of professionalism Create interest in the job by helping employees to understand their job better

Job design + provision of necessary resources

So that motivated and qualified employees have a high probability of success (e.g., equipment, staff support, freedom from interruption)
Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.12

Cultural controls

Cultural controls or mutual monitoring tap into social pressure and group norms and values Cultural controls are effective because members of a group have emotional ties and a sense of responsibility to one another

Cultures are built on shared ...

traditions norms beliefs ideologies attitudes ways of behaving
Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.13

Ways to shape culture

Codes of conduct
Codes of ethics; corporate credos, mission statements, etc.
Formal written documents with broad statements of corporate values, commitments to stakeholders, and the ways in which top management would like the firm to function Fundamental guiding principles of the company

Group-based rewards
For example, profit-sharing, employee ownership of company stock

These are cultural controls (although of a results control nature) because the link between group (individual) performance and rewards is stronger (weaker)

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.14

Ways to shape culture (continued)

Intra-organizational transfers
Improve the socialization of individuals in an organization and alleviate the formation of incompatible goals and perspectives
Improve identification with the organization as a whole as opposed to subunit identification

Physical and social arrangements

For example, office plans, interior decor, dress codes and vocabulary, etc.

Tone at the top

Top management statements must be consistent with the culture they are trying to create, and importantly, their behaviors should be consistent with their statements
Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012

Slide 3.15

Start with people controls

People controls Must always be relied on to a certain extent

Have relatively few harmful side-effects

Involve relatively low out-of-pocket costs

However, it is rare that people controls will be sufficient; hence, in most cases, it is necessary to supplement them with

Action controls Results controls

Merchant, Management Control Systems PowerPoints on the Web, 3rd edition, Pearson Education Limited 2012