REVIEW AND APPLICATIONS
CHAPTER SUMMARY
14-1 Explain the nature and importance of control. Control is the management function that
involves monitoring activities to ensure that they’re being accomplished as planned and
14-2 Describe the three steps in the control process. The three steps in the control process
are measuring, comparing, and taking action. Measuring involves deciding how to
14-3 Discuss the types of controls organizations and managers use. Feedforward controls
take place before a work activity is done. Concurrent controls take place while a work
activity is being done. Feedback controls take place after a work activity is done.
14-4 Discuss contemporary issues in control. Adjusting controls for cross-cultural
differences may be needed primarily in the areas of measuring and taking corrective
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
14-1 What is the role of control in management?
Answer: Control is the process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being
accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations. An effective control
14-2 Describe four methods managers can use to acquire information about actual work
performance.
Answer: Four common sources of information frequently used by managers to measure
actual performance are personal observation, statistical reports, oral reports, and written
reports. Personal observation provides firsthand, intimate knowledge of the actual
activity. Computers and sophisticated software systems give managers real-time
14-3 How are planning and control linked? Is the control function linked to the
organizing and leading functions of management? Explain.
14-4 Contrast feedforward, concurrent, and feedback controls.
14-5 Why do you think feedback control is the most popular type of control? Justify your
response.
Answer: Students’ responses will vary but might include things like: managers have
experience with feedback; it’s natural to want to wait and see what outcomes are before
14-6 In Chapter 8 we discussed the “white-water rapids” view of change. Do you think
it’s possible to establish and maintain effective standards and controls in this type of
atmosphere? Discuss.
Answer: Yes. The control cycle—when measurements are taken, building an acceptable
14-7 Why is it that what is measured is more critical to the control process than how it is
measured?
Answer: The selection of the wrong criteria can result in serious dysfunctional
14-8 “Every individual employee in an organization plays a role in controlling work
activities.” Do you agree with this statement, or do you think control is something
that only managers are responsible for? Explain.
Answer: Student responses will vary. Yes, every employee has an obligation to control
14-9 What are some work activities in which the acceptable range of variation might be
higher than average? What about lower than average? (Hint: Think in terms of the
output from the work activities, whom it might affect, and how it might affect
them.)
Answer: For some jobs, measuring employee performance is as simple as looking at total
sales or the number of units produced in a day. However, there are many jobs where the
14-10 How could you use the concept of control in your personal life? Be specific. (Think
in terms of feedforward, concurrent, and feedback controls as well as specific
controls for the different aspects of your life—school, work, family relationships,
friends, hobbies, etc.)
Answer: The most desirable type of control—feedforward control—prevents anticipated
problems. It takes place in advance of the actual activity. It’s future-directed. The key to
MyManagementLab
Students can find the following assisted-graded writing questions at
14-11 Why is it important for managers to understand the control process?
14-12 Discuss the various types of tools used to monitor and measure organizational
performance.
Management Skill Builder: Disciplining Difficult Employees
Almost all managers will, at one time or another, have to deal with employees who are difficult.
There is no shortage of characteristics that can make someone difficult to deal with. Some
examples include being: short-tempered, demanding, abusive, angry, defensive, complaining,
intimidating, aggressive, narcissistic, arrogant, and rigid. Successful managers have learned how
to cope with difficult people.
Personal Inventory Assessment: Workplace Discipline Indicator
Disciplining, especially with difficult employees, is usually not a manager’s favorite thing to do.
But it is important. Take the PIA and discover how you prefer to discipline employees.
Skill Basics
Here are several suggestions that are likely to lessen the angst these people create in your
life and may have some influence in reducing their difficult behavior:
Don’t let your emotions rule.
Attempt to limit contact.
Try polite confrontation.
Practice positive reinforcement.
Recruit fellow victims and witnesses.
Practicing the Skill
In this case, students are to imagine they are a vice president for finance at a large mining
company. One of your employees, Mark, has been with the company eight years and is
seen as ‘brilliant’ at his job but also arrogant and difficult to work with. Students are
asked, ‘What could you do to improve your ability to work with Mark?’
Students should be able to apply the suggestions from the Skill Basics section above.
Another lesson to consider is the advantages and disadvantages of keeping Mark in the
company. After weighing the pros and cons on keeping a disruptive employee, it is
possible that Mark may not be as valuable as the president is lead to believe.
This exercise would be ideal for an in-class role-play. Have several students play the role
of the vice president and Mark. Tell students that they are to perform a performance
appraisal interview and discuss Mark’s performance and his negative attitude. Remind the
students playing the role of vice president to integrate the suggestions mentioned above
into the interview.
Experential Exercise
Collins State College—School of Accountancy
To: Matt Wrobeck, Ethics Committee Chair
From: Dr. Rebecca Rodriguez, Director
Subject: Minimizing student cheating
As the ethics committee chair, Matt has been asked to develop some suggestions on ways to
control cheating in the classroom. These suggestions should work to control cheating (1) before
it happens, (2) while in-class exams or assignments are being completed, and (3) after it has
happened.
Teaching Tip: Students should apply the three types of control to cheating in the
classroom. If this case is being used for in-class discussion, first have students brainstorm
a list of ways that cheating can occur. Next, have students break into groups and assign
them one or more cheating methods and have them create three ways (feedforward,
concurrent, and feedback) to control this negative behavior. After the discussion, the
instructor may want to show the university policy on cheating and discuss if it uses all
three types (feedforward, concurrent, and feedback) of control.
Case Application 1: Top Secret
Discussion Questions
14-13 Is Visa being overly cautious? Why or why not?
Students’ answers will vary but Visa is probably not being overly cautious. They control a
14-14 Why is this level of managerial controls necessary?
14-15 Which controls would be more important to Visa: feedforward, concurrent, or feedback?
Explain.
14-16 What other managerial controls might be useful to the company?
Case Application 2: If You Can’t Say Something Nice, Don’t Say Anything at All
Discussion Questions
14-18 Is controlling employee performance an important responsibility of managers? Discuss.
14-19 Why should managers focus on positive feedback?
14-20 What are the risks associated with providing employees only with positive feedback and
providing limited feedback on areas of improvement?
14-21 Where would you be more comfortable? An organization with a performance review
approach more like the Boston Consulting Group or more like Netflix? Why?
Case Application 3: Too Relaxed
Discussion Questions
14-22 What type (or types) of control—feedforward, concurrent, or feedback—do you think
would be most important in this situation? Explain your choice.
14-23 Using Exhibit 14-2, discuss if and how this situation could have been prevented.
14-24 Could Lululemon’s controls have been more effective? How?
14-25 What role would information controls play in this situation? Customer interaction
controls? What other controls do you think might have been useful?
Each of these controls played a big role in this situation. Mainly, it seemed in this case