The Importance of Control Management in a Business Perspective - Research Proposal Example

and Section # of INTRODUCTION: Control management is bound to get negative reactions as people today do not want to be controlled and checked upon in any way. Control management is an important part of management; it is a process that monitors the performance and takes appropriate actions to reach to the desired results. In earlier times, control management is restricted to making sure that errors were detected; today control management involves setting the standards and evaluation of performance according to those standards. If those standards are not being met, corrective actions need to be taken. In a business perspective, it is equally important to keep a check on the quality of work being produced by individuals in the organization. The word control, by itself, raises questions and thoughts in the minds of people who like their independence. However, they forget to realize that the control function is there to evaluate them to provide feedback, regarding whether the goals of the organization have been met or not. Progressive organizations benchmark standards and want their employees to match up to the standards. This proves the importance of control management in a business perspective. (Ernest, 1969). PROBLEM STATEMENT The problem that is rising in the business environment today is the development of a bad reputation and thinking when it comes to controlling. Organizations believe today that the employees of the organization are active members of those enterprises and any sort of control on them is bound to produce a negative impact on the performance of those individuals. There is a growing concern regarding the changing styles of management; just like nature of organizations is going through a shift. In the same manner, change should also take place in the nature of management control on its employees and other functions. The problems lies with the phrase, it bounds to give a feeling of domination, coerciveness and generate negative emotions. However, control management is important for co-ordination between different departments and to reach to the goals of the organization, by matching the standards with the performance of individuals; hence, it serves as an important function of management. Control management becomes important in organizations where there is low tolerance for ambiguity and who are more authoritative in nature. Such organizations are usually manufacturers who have to make sure that a certain quality of product or services is maintained in order to maintain customer loyalty and brand recognition. Therefore, to exercise control in organizations who are towards creativity and do not follow certain standards, it is more difficult to tackle the employees and control them, as they are against control or any aspect of control. To narrow the horizon of the research, I would choose the event management sector where there is so much going at one point in time and it is important for the management to take care of all the things happening simultaneously. Therefore, the problem synthesized in a statement would be, : Effect of control management on employees in Event Management Companies in the United Kingdom and its impact on employee motivation. The report will be judging the importance of perception of individuals regarding control management, how it affects performance/motivation and how important it is to overcome these problems. BACKGROUND: This report strives to outline the importance of overcoming the negative connotations related to control management, because control management is highly important in the steady management of organizations. Without control, no organization may exist. An organization, in easy terms, can be formed by two or more people working together towards a common interest or to reach a goal. Whether the culture is changing/progressive or bureaucratic, there will be goal present. The means that after identifying the goal, there needs to be some planning regarding the way to reach the goal, organizing of resources so that the goal is achieved efficiently, benchmarking standards and measuring performance so that the goal is reached on time. The people working in an organization might change their strategy to reach that goal; communication of reaching that goal is mandatory so that all the people in the organization are on the same page. This is the coordinating aspect of management, which is also known as control. Therefore, it is highly important that such actions take place in the organization at the right time, to ensure success of the organization. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to understand the extent of the problem and analyze the problem’s importance in the ever-changing business environment today. Control management is an important function of management, and if employees fail to understand its importance and continue to serve it as a threat to their position in the organization, there are bound to be negative consequences in terms of efficiency and performance, due to low motivation to work. The reasons for the negative reactions towards control management would be outlined so that further steps can be taken to overcome this problem in the management system. Outlining the problems will only help us to find out the solution of the problem, that is the negative attitude. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: There are a number of objectives that this research would fulfill. To find out the relationship between the perceived control management in the organization and its effects on employee emotions. To find out the effect of negative emotions, arising from perceptions of control, on the employee motivation. To understand the impact of lower motivation of employees on the business? To understand the costs related to lower motivation/morale of employees, to the organization. To find the relative importance of the effect of negative emotions when arising from perceptions of control in event management; do they or do they not effect employee motivation in any way or not. To understand the rationale of lowered motivation arising from control over employees. To understand the importance of control management in event management. To understand the importance of low motivation in event management organizations in UK. RESEARH QUESTIONS: Some of the research questions may be refined further to increase objectivity when the final questionnaire is developed. These questions are directed towards the employees of the organizations which will be selected for the survey. What kind of feeling comes to you mind when it comes to control management? Does the word ‘control’ bring negative connotations to your mind? How important do you think is control for an organization from the management point of view? How important is control management in event management companies? Can event management take place without a specific control on employees? Would you be more receptive to the control aspect of management if the word co-ordinate was used? Do you feel any changes in the performance level in a controlled environment? Which kind of environment magnifies your positive performance in the organization? The business in itself demands control; how do you feel that you have a controller sitting to which you have to promptly reply. SIGNIFICANCE: The purpose of this study will be to outline the major reasons why there are negative reactions towards control management and how important it is for event management firms to remove these feelings from their employees’ mindsets. This has immense importance in the business arena as the perception of an employee towards their work life and environment is highly important. It reflects in their performance and efficiency. For organizations and management, understanding the basic reasons for these negative reactions and the kinds of reactions would help them in devising such a plan that overcomes these problems. If organizations are unable to realize the negative reactions to their control functions, it would greatly hamper the performance of their employees, might end up increasing the employee turnover rate due to low satisfaction. Keeping in mind this problem, some organizations have started giving the name of coordination to controlling so that these negative connotations can be removed, that are associated with the word. Nevertheless, the importance of control management is immense to the organization and steps are needed to be taken to ensure that the misconceptions of employees are removed so that the goals of the organizations can be met. The progressive organizations of today want to empower employees rather than controlling them. Therefore, there is high importance of understanding the importance of gauging the negative reactions to control management. Not conducting such a research would greatly hamper the performance of organizations that are not focusing on the importance of answering their employee’s fears and concerns relating to organizational control. (David, 2008) One should not forget the importance of employees in an organization. In today’s world, employees provide organizations with the competitive edge that they need to excel in the market. Employees are the edge that organizations have today as all other factor resources are such that they can be replicated by others; only man power has something intangible with them that they cannot replicate. Therefore, from the business perspective it is very important for organizations to retain human resource so that they may add value to the organizational practices and business. METHODOLOGY There are a number of methodologies that can be used for this research. There are two types of information that can be gauged from the research, qualitative and quantitative information. This will be an exploratory research, which is a research that identifies and evaluates new structures and problems in the given scenario. There is already some information present in the business therefore; we will be conducting primary as well as secondary research. Primary research would be through direct research from employees working in different organizations, where as secondary research would be through analyzing various scholarly articles and information regarding the topic (Emma, 2007). To gauge the responses of the employees, surveys, focus groups and interviews will be conducted in order to gain first-hand knowledge regarding the thinking of employees regarding control management. Then statistical analytical tools will be used, to analyze and interpret the data. Information regarding their performance will also be gauged from the employee’s organizations so that a link can be established between the stated variables. The most viable method would be of a survey with the help of a questionnaire which will have close-ended questions so that responses can be quantified and used for analysis (John, 2009). LITERATURE REVIEW: Controlling is one of the management functions among the POLC approach of management that is, planning, leading, organizing and controlling. Since controlling comes as the last link of this sequential management chain, a whole lot of responsibility also falls down on effective control management, so as to ensure the success of the project undertaken or the task to be done. (John 1986) Control management comprises of three steps: setting the standards on which employees perform, then measuring the performance of employees or tasks against the standards set, and then taking corrective action if the standards have not been met. The most important aspect of any strategy making or any planning is to ensure that its implementation takes place. And this is achieved through the first three stages of management. But the last stage helps management in finding out what errors are resulting in the way that planning was done, resources were organized or leadership was given. And then control management also encompasses corrective actions against any sort of problems that are arising. This helps the management see for itself where it lacks, or what its strengths are. Such a periodic SWOT analysis, undertaken during control management, is imperative for the success of any organization, since it enables them to keep track of the changes taking place in the external and the internal environment, and to achieve and sustain a competitive edge over their competitors. (John, 1986) Nowadays, the changes are so rapid, that control management has to be of a proactive nature. That is, before the errors take place, they have to be avoided from occurring in the first instance. This has given more command into the hands of the organization, in not getting swayed away by sudden changes that take place in an unforeseen and unpredictable corporate environment (Rob, 2008). Control management needs to be effectively administered in the organization in such a way that it doesn’t hamper the moral of the organization. Controlling helps in maintaining compliance with some of the essential organization rules and policies. Therefore, in order to keep the organization in control and working towards a common goal, controlling is highly important. Call it coordinating or controlling, it will serve the same purpose and will help the organization to achieve long term success. (David, 2008) HYPOTHESES Based on the secondary research and the perceptions that have been researched, one expects to find that; 1. Negative reactions towards control management would hamper the performance of individuals by 20%. 2. The use of control will decrease employee motivation by 20% 3. A decrease in performance and morale will increase employee turnover by 10%. 4. Sound communication policies would help decrease the negative reactions to control management by 15%. 5. Effective control management is important for event management organizations to achieve its goals. DEFINITION OF TERMS Control management: It is a part of management that benchmarks the performance standards and checks and controls the performance of individuals. It is a process that monitors performance and takes appropriate actions to ensure that desired actions take place. It makes sure that the rights things happen in the right way at the right time. (Christopher, 2005) Quantitative Research: Quantitative research is a branch of statistics that refers to the use of mathematical models, theories or hypotheses related to a certain phenomena and then testing those phenomena for success of failure. Quantitative research serves as a essential link between the empirical observation and mathematical representation of the relationships. (Allan, 2007) ASSUMPTIONS Since the research will be conducted in an uncontrolled environment, there will be noise present in the results of the research. The performance lag may be present in the employees due to reasons other than their negative reactions towards control management. Therefore, it will be assumed that the responses that are being gauged will be from people who are otherwise satisfied with their work environment. Managerial and non-managerial positions will be surveyed in order to increase the scope of the research. The world view that is assumed in my study is that strict control management and the use of word control in management brings negative connotations to the minds of people and affects their performance because they think they are being controlled and monitored and their freedom is at a threat. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS There are a number of limitations in the research method. Since the basic tool used for the collection of data will be that of the surveys, the responses will be the only way to gauge the results of the hypotheses. Any wrong answers presented by the audience who is being questioned, or any biasness on their part is bound to introduce the error in the results. Also, since affective variables are being researched, many of the people would not be able to translate their opinion into one of the options presented as answers, decreasing the validity. There might be an error of non-response present too. (Allan, 2007) The scope of this research is huge, this is a great problem encompassing organizations and hampering the efficiency of employees all around the world. Therefore, in order to increase the effectiveness of control management and its image in front of employees, the management needs to realize its importance and then take appropriate steps to answers those issues of employees. PROCEDURE Managerial and non-managerial positions will be chosen randomly from 50 organizations working in different fields to increase objectivity. A total of 800 employees will be randomly selected, equally from managerial and non-managerial positions. The survey would be developed using closed ended questions to increase the objectivity and so that the answers can be quantified and further used for analysis through various statistical tools. An expected time of one month should be expected to complete the survey, then compilation of results and analysis should take another week. For analysis, the software SPSS will be used. The data will be input and various variables will then be gauged, a detailed analysis of the result would be presented. LONG RANGE CONSEQUENCES Long term consequences of this study are huge; there are a small number of organizations which are facing this problem and hence have changed their methods of control that is effecting their management. Control management is an important part of management and negative connotations are needed to be removed for the betterment of organizations as well their employees. With the help of this research, one hopes that organizations would use effective communication policies to remove the reservations of their employees and to increase control in such a way that it works for the betterment of the organization. BIBLIOGRAPHY Dale, E. (1969) Management: Theory and Practice. Rex Bookstore Boddy, D. (2008) Management: An introduction. FT Prentice Hall Chapman, C. (2005) Controlling strategy: Management, Accounting and Performance Measurement Camillus, J. (1986) Strategic Planning and Management Control. Lexington Books. Bryman, A., Bell, A. (2007) Business Research Methods. Oxford University Press. Creswell, J. (2009) Research Design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE Publications. Paton, R., McCalman, J. (2008) Change Management: The guide to effective Implementation. SAGE Publications Read More