Control
Control is management’s systematic effort to achieve objectives. Activities are continually monitored to see that results stay within desired boundaries. Actual results of each activity are compared with plans, and if significant differences are noted, remedial actions may be taken. Figure 1-1 illustrates the control process, using top management as an example. Similar relationships exist at all management within the organization.
The concept of control in business differs from that used in engineering, where control are designed to work continuously, to use physical measures as their information inputs, and to work largely independently of human decision making. Thermostats and fuses are simple examples of engineering controls. In contrast, the control process in business always includes a human decision maker. In addition, the information on which control actions are based includes financial information, and the control activity is periodic rather than continuous.
The concept of control in business also differs from that used in military and police work, in which the need for coercive force is always possible, although undesirable, in achieving control. In business, control is achieved through others’ actions only with their cooperation.
Authority, Responsibility, and Accountability
In a small firm, planning and control are performed by a single person, usually the owner or general manager intimately familiar with the firm’s products, processes, financing, and customers. In a large company with many organizational units and a variety of products or services, planning and control are larger tasks. Large firms assign planning and control functions to many people, so that reports and corrective actions will not be too far removed from the activity being controlled.
Authority is the power to direct others to perform or not perform activities. Authority is the key to the managerial job and the basis for responsibility. It is the force that binds the organization. Authority originates with executive management, which delegates it to lower levels. Delegation is essential to organizational structure Through delegation, a manager’s area of influence is extended, but the manager remains responsible for delegated functions because delegation does not remove responsibility.
Responsibility, or obligation, is closely related to authority. It originates principally in the superior-subordinate relationship in the superior has the authority to require specific work from others. If subordinates accept the obligation to perform, they create their own responsibility. The superior still is ultimately responsible for subordinates’ performance.
One facet of responsibility is accountability-reporting result to higher authority. Reporting is important because it enables measurement of the extent to which objectives are reached. Usually accountability is imposed on an individual rather than a group. This principle of individual accountability is well established in both profit and nonprofit organizations. If the organizational structure permits pooling of judgment, responsibility is diffused and accountability nullified.
The Organization Chart
An organization chart shows an entity’s principal management positions helps to define authority, responsibility, and accountability, and is essential in developing a cost accounting system capable of reporting the responsibilities of individuals. The coordinated development of a company’s organization with the cost and budgetary system leads to an approach to accounting and reporting called responsibility accounting.
Most organization charts are based on the line-staff concept. The assumption of this concept is that all positions or functional units con be categorized into two groups: the line, which makes decisions, and the staff, which gives advice and performs technical functions. A line-staff organization chart is illustrated in Figure1-2.
Another type of organization chart is based on the functional-teamwork concept of management, which emphasizes the most important functions of an enterprise: resources, processes, and human interrelations. The resources function involves the acquisition, disposal, and prudent management of a wide variety of resources-tangible and intangible, human and physical. The processes function deals with activities such as product design, research and development, purchasing, manufacturing, advertising, marketing, and billing. The human interrelations function directs the company’s efforts concerning the behavior of people inside and outside the company. A functional-teamwork organization chart is illustrated in Figure 1-3
1-2 The Controller’s Participation in planning and control
The controller is the executive manager responsible for the accounting function. The controller coordinates management’s participation in planning and controlling the attainment of objectives, in determining the effectiveness of policies, and in creating organizational structures and processes. The controller also is responsible for observing methods of planning and control throughout the enterprise and for proposing improvements in them.
Effective control depends on communicating information to management. By issuing performance reports, the controller advises other managers of activities requiring corrective action. These reports emphasize deviations from a predetermined plan, following the principle of management by exception. The principle of management by exception is a belief that managers should be provided with information that directs their attention to activities that require corrective action. The concept is premised on the belief that managers do not have time to review every action of every subordinate nor to consult with each subordinate prior to each action. This is not to say that managers’ main task is correcting problems or “putting out fires,” but simply that managers need not take actions in the many areas where the work is proceeding as planned.
Using the accounting system and other systems, the controller provides information for planning a company’s future and for controlling its activities. This information goes far beyond the basic financial statements. Investors, government agencies, and other external parties also receive information by which management’s effectiveness may be judged. This information is usually communicated to external users by means of quarterly and annual reports that include financial statements but lack the depth of explanatory detail available to internal decision makers.