上海大學管理學英語unit7 C.ppt

1、,Unit 7,Text C Exercises,Text C The Control Process 1 The control process is a three-step process: measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance against a standard, and taking managerial action to correct deviations or inadequate standards. The control process assumes that performance s

2、tandards already exist. These standards are the specific goals created during the planning process against which performance progress is measured.,Measuring 2 To determine what actual performance is, a manager must require information about it. The first step in control, then, is measuring. The foll

3、owing will show us how managers measure and what they measure.,3 Four sources of information frequently used by managers to measure actual performance are personal observation, statistical reports, oral reports, and written reports. In order to understand how to measure, for most managers, using a c

4、ombination of approaches increases both the number of input sources and the probability of getting reliable information.,4 What managers measure is probably more critical to the control process than how they measure. Why? The selection of the wrong criteria can result in serious dysfunctional conseq

5、uences. Besides, what they measure determines, to a great extent, what people in the organization will attempt to excel at.,5 Some control criteria are applicable to any management situation. For instance, because all managers, by definition, coordinate the work of others, criteria such as employee

6、satisfaction or turnover and absenteeism rates can be measured. Most managers also have budgets set in dollar costs for their area of responsibility. Keeping costs within budget is, therefore, a fairly common control,measure. However, any comprehensive control system needs to recognize the diversity

7、 of activities that managers do. For instance, a production manager at a paper tablet manufacturer might use measures such as quantity of paper tablets produced per day and per labor-hour, scrap rate, or percent of rejects returned by customers.,On the other hand, the manager of an administrative un

8、it in a governmental agency might use number of document pages typed per day, number of client requests processed per hour, or average time required to process paperwork. Marketing managers often use measures such as percentage of market held, average dollar per sale, number of customer visits per s

9、alesperson, or number of customer impressions per advertising medium.,6 Most jobs and activities can be expressed in tangible and measurable terms. However, when a performance indicator cant be stated in quantifiable terms, managers should use subjective measures. Although subjective measures have s

10、ignificant limitations, theyre better than having no standards at all and ignoring the control function. If an activity is important, the excuse that its difficult to measure is unacceptable.,Comparing 7 The comparing step determines the degree of variation between actual performance and the standar

11、d. Although some variation in performance can be expected in all activities, its critical to determine the acceptable range of variation.,Deviations that exceed this range become significant and need the managers attention. In the comparison stage, managers are particularly concerned with the size a

12、nd direction of the variation. An example can help make this concept clearer.,8 Chris Tanner is sales manager for Eastern States, a distributor of imported beers in several states on the U.S. East Coast. Chris prepares a report during the first week of each month that describes sales for the previou

13、s month, classified by brand name. the following form displays both the sales goal (standard) and actual sales figures for the month of July.,9 Should Chris be concerned about Julys sales performance? Sales were a bit higher than originally targeted, but does that mean there were no significant devi

14、ations? Even though overall performance was generally quite favorable, several brands might need to be examined more closely by Chris. However, the number of brands that deserve attention depends on what Chris believes to be significant. How much variation should Chris allow before corrective action

15、 is taken?,10 The deviation on several brands (Molson, Victoria Bitter, and Amstel Lihgt) is very small and doesnt need special attention. On the other hand, are the shortages for Corona and Dos Equis brands significant? Thats a judgment Chris must make. Heineken sales were 15 percent below Chriss g

16、oal. This deviation is significant and needs attention. Chris should look for a cause.,In this instance, Chris attributes the decrease to aggressive advertising and promotion programs by the big domestic producers, Anheuser-Bush and Miller. Because Heineken is his companys number-one selling import,

17、 its most vulnerable to the promotion clout of the big domestic producers. If the decline in sales of Heineken is more than a temporary slump (that is, if it happens again next month), then Chris will need to cut back on inventory stock.,11 An error in understating sales can be as troublesome as an

18、overstatement. For instance, is the surprising popularity of Tecate (up 68 percent) a one-month aberration, or is this brand becoming more popular with customers? If the brand is increasing in popularity, Chris will want to order more products to meet customer demand, so as not to run short and risk

19、 losing customers. Again, example illustrates that both overvariance and undervariance in any comparison of measures may require managerial attention.,Taking Managerial Action 12 The third and final step in the control is taking managerial action. Managers can choose among three possible courses of

20、action: They can do nothing; they can correct the actual performance; or they can revise the standards. Because “doing nothing” is fairly self-explanatory, lets look more closely at the other two.,13 If the source of the performance variation is unsatisfactory work, the managers want to take correct

21、ive action. Examples of such corrective action might include changing strategy, structure, compensation practices, or training programs; redesigning jobs; or firing employees.,14 A manager who decides to correct actual performance has to make another decision: Should Immediate corrective action corr

22、ects problems at once to get performance back on track. Basic corrective action looks at how and why performance has deviated and then proceeds to correct the source of deviation. It is not unusual,for managers to rationalize that they dont have the time to take basic corrective action and therefore

23、 must be content to perpetually “put out fires” with immediate corrective action. Effective managers, however, analyze deviations and, when the benefits justify it, take the time to pinpoint and correct the causes of variance.,15 To return to the Eastern States example, taking immediate corrective a

24、ction on the negative variance for Heineken, Chris might contact the companys retailers and have them immediately drop the price on Heineken by 5 percent. However, taking basic corrective action would involve more in-depth analysis by Chris. After assessing how and why,sales deviated, Chris might ch

25、oose to increase in-store promotional efforts, increase the advertising budget for this brand, or reduce future purchases from the breweries. The action Chris takes will depend on the assessment of each brands potential profitability.,16 It is possible that the variance was a result of an unrealisti

26、c standard; that is, the goal may have been too high or too low. In such instances, its the standard that needs corrective attention, not the performance. In our example, Chris might need to raise the sales goal (standard) for Tecate to reflect its growing popularity.,17 The more troublesome problem

27、 is revising a performance standard downward. If an employee, work team, or work unit falls significantly short of reaching its goal, their natural response is to shift the blame for the variance to the goal. For instance, students who make a low grade on a test often attack the grade cutoff standar

28、ds as too high. Rather than,accept the fact that their performance was inadequate, students argue that the standards are unreasonable. Similarly, salespeople who fail to meet their monthly quota may attribute the failure to an unrealistic quota. It may be true that when standards are too high, it ca

29、n result in a significant variation and may even contribute to demotivating those employees being measured. But keep in mind,that if employees or managers dont meet the standard, the first thing theyre likely to attack is the standard. If you believe that the standard is realistic, fair, and achieva

30、ble, hold your ground. Explain your position, reaffirm to the employee, team, or unit that you expect future performance to improve, and then take the necessary corrective action to turn that expectation into reality.,Exercises of Text C Part One Mark each statement below True or False based on your

31、 understanding of Text C. 1. _ Managers seldom use a combination of approaches to measure performance. 2. _ How managers measure is usually more important than what they measure.,F,F,3. _ Generally, a control criterion is only applicable to specific situation. 4. _ Managers can still use certain mea

32、sures when a performance indicator is not tangible. 5. _ Deviations that exceed the acceptable range really deserves the managers attention.,F,T,T,6. _The corrective action usually involves identifying the source of deviation at the beginning. 7. _ Managers usually think it more effective to take im

33、mediate corrective action. 8. _ If the deviation is the result of an improper standard, its necessary to change the standard accordingly,T,F,T,9. _ Revising a performance standard downward might not be wise, especially when the standard is achievable. 10. _ The control process assumes that there are

34、 no performance standards available.,T,F,Part Two Give short answers to the following questions based on your comprehension of Text C. 1. How do you understand performance standards? 2. What do managers usually measure to determine the actual performance?,3. What is critical in the comparing step? 4

35、. Is taking basic corrective action practical in most cases? 5. What does the writer want to illustrate through the chart?,6. What will the corrective action usually involve? 7. Will unrealistic standard result in deviations? 8. Are performance indicators quantifiable in most situations?,The End,1. The standards, the specific goals, are created during the planning