'Team-work forces employees to internalise managerial controls'. Critically analyse this statement - Essay Example

A synonym often used for management control is internal control.” (Havens, 1) The manager is the one that is normally in charge of this work. As he monitors the activities, he is able to make changes or corrections wherever he sees it necessary. This work of control helps the company know how well they are performing in connection with the goals of the company. Control helps the organization to adjust to the change of environment, reduce the build-up of error, cope with the complexities of the organization, and lastly to reduce the costs.

In order for control to be successful, certain steps have to be followed. Standards have to be established, performance of the workers should then be measured, then a comparison between performance and standards should be done, and lastly, the manager should determine if there is need for modification of behaviour. The scope of the control involves a variety of areas. There is the control over the organizational policies; most companies will testify that this is done through their policy manuals.

Then there is control over the organization or the company, and this is done through the chart or manual of the company. Then there is control over the employees, this is because the basic definition of management is getting the work done through the people that are working for the company. There is also control over the income or salaries of the employees; this is done through the personnel department. There is also control over the costs, this work is done through the cost accountant, it is this individual who sets the cost for the materials and labour, and he does this by comparing it with the standard costs.

There is also control over methods; this is done by holding a periodical inspection of the work of each department. Then there is control over capital spending, this is done through grading different projects and determining where the capital should be spent. There is also control over the production, it is in this area that effort is exerted to make simple and explain the line of products. There is also control over research and since this work is technical in its essence, no direct control is given to it.

There is also control over external relations; this work is done through the public relations department. And lastly, there is overall control, this is done through a master plan, all the departments are obliged to participate in this overall procedure. As the years have gone by, management control strategies have also improved. “Organizations often use standardized documents to ensure complete and consistent information is gathered. Documents include titles and dates to detect different versions of the document.

Computers have revolutionized administrative controls through use of integrated management information systems, project management software, human resource information systems, office automation software, etc. Organizations typically require a wide range of reports, e.g., financial reports, status reports, project reports, etc. to monitor what's being done, by when and how.” (Mcnamara, 1) This and many other technological improvements that have come due to the growth of technology have helped modify and make better the management control system.

And hence, it has proven to be a very effective and reliable system, one that is able to ensure that all the goals of the organization are met in a short period of time. Unlike the previous years where the progress of organizational goals was very slow. This