Functions of Controlling

Functions of Controlling

It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann, “Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation”. According to Koontz & O’Donell “Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished”.

The managerial function controlling always maximise the use of scarce resources to achieve the purposeful behaviour of employees in an organisation. In planning stage, it is decided that how the resources would be utilised but where as in the controlling stage it is observed that whether the resources are being utilised in the same way as planned or not. Thus, control completes the whole sequence of management process.

Controlling consists of verifying whether everything occurs in confirmities with the plans adopted, instructions issued and principles established. Controlling ensures that there is effective and efficient utilization of organizational resources so as to achieve the planned goals. Controlling measures the deviation of actual performance from the standard performance, discovers the causes of such deviations and helps in taking corrective actions According to Brech, “Controlling is a systematic exercise which is called as a process of checking actual performance against the standards or plans with a view to ensure adequate progress and also recording such experience as is gained as a contribution to possible future needs.” According to Donnell, “Just as a navigator continually takes reading to ensure whether he is relative to a planned action, so should a business manager continually take reading to assure himself that his enterprise is on right course.”

Therefore controlling has following steps:

Establishment of standard performance. Measurement of actual performance. Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any. Corrective action.

Features of Controlling Function Following are the characteristics of controlling function of management.

Controlling is an end function- A function which comes once the performances are made in confirmities with plans. Controlling is a pervasive function- which means it is performed by managers at all levels and in all type of concerns. Controlling is forward looking- because effective control is not possible without past being controlled. Controlling always look to future so that follow-up can be made whenever required. Controlling is a dynamic process- since controlling requires taking reviewal methods, changes have to be made wherever possible. Controlling is related with planning- Planning and Controlling are two inseperable functions of management. Without planning, controlling is a meaningless exercise and without controlling, planning is useless. Planning presupposescontrolling and controlling succeeds planning.

Roles of Manager

Henry Mintzberg identified ten different roles, separated into three categories. The categories he defined are as follows

Interpersonal Roles - The ones that, like the name suggests, involve people and other ceremonial duties. It can be further classified as follows Leader – Responsible for staffing, training, and associated duties. Figurehead – The symbolic head of the organization. Liaison – Maintains the communication between all contacts and informers that compose the organizational network.  Informational Roles - Related to collecting, receiving, and disseminating information. Monitor – Personally seek and receive information, to be able to understand the organization. Disseminator – Transmits all import information received from outsiders to the members of the organization. Spokesperson – On the contrary to the above role, here the manager transmits the organization’s plans, policies and actions to outsiders.  Decisional Roles - Roles that revolve around making choices. Entrepreneur – Seeks opportunities. Basically they search for change, respond to it, and exploit it. Negotiator – Represents the organization at major negotiations. Resource Allocator – Makes or approves all significant decisions related to the allocation of resources. Disturbance Handler – Responsible for corrective action when the organization faces disturbances.

A manager's job is never static, and is always in movement. At any given time, a manager may be carrying out some combination of these roles to varying degrees, from none of their time to 100 percent of their time. Over their working life, a person may hold different management positions that call upon different roles.

Top level managers consists of the board of directors, president, vice-president, CEOs and others. They are responsible for controlling and overseeing the entire organization. They develop goals, strategic plans, company policies and make decisions on the direction of the business. In addition, top-level managers play a significant role in the mobilization of outside resources and are accountable to shareholders and the general public.

Middle level managers consist of general managers, branch managers and department managers. They are accountable to the top management for the functions of their departments. They devote more time to organizational and directional concerns. Their roles can be emphasized as executing organizational plans in conformance with the company's policies and objectives. This includes being able to define and discuss information and top management policies with lower management and, most importantly, provide lower level managers with guidance and inspiration for high performance.

First level managers consist of supervisors, section leads, foremen, and the like. They focus on controlling and directing. They usually have the responsibility of assigning employees tasks, guiding and supervising employees on day-to-day activities, ensuring quality and quantity production, making recommendations, and solving employee problems.

Control Process

The basic control process involves mainly these steps:

The Establishment of Standards: Because plans are the yardsticks against which controls must be revised, it follows logically that the first step in the control process would be to accomplish plans. Plans can be considered as the criterion or the standards against which we compare the actual performance in order to figure out the deviations. Examples for the standards Profitability standards: In general, these standards indicate how much the company would like to make as profit over a given time period- that is, its return on investment. Market position standards: These standards indicate the share of total sales in a particular market that the company would like to have relative to its competitors. Productivity standards: How much that various segments of the organization should produce is the focus of these standards. Product leadership standards: These indicate what must be done to attain such a position. Employee attitude standards: These standards indicate what types of attitudes the company managers should strive to indicate in the company’s employees. Social responsibility standards: Such as making contribution to the society. Standards reflecting the relative balance between short and long range goals. Measurement of Performance: The measurement of performance against standards should be on a forward looking basis so that deviations may be detected in advance by appropriate actions. The degree of difficulty in measuring various types of organizational performance, of course, is determined primarily by the activity being measured. For example, it is far more difficult to measure the performance of highway maintenance worker than to measure the performance of a student enrolled in a college level management course. Comparing Measured Performance to Stated Standards: When managers have taken a measure of organizational performance, their next step in controlling is to compare this measure against some standard. A standard is the level of activity established to serve as a model for evaluating organizational performance. The performance evaluated can be for the organization as a whole or for some individuals working within the organization. In essence, standards are the yardsticks that determine whether organizational performance is adequate or inadequate. Taking Corrective Actions: After actual performance has been measured compared with established performance standards, the next step in the controlling process is to take corrective action, if necessary. Corrective action is managerial activity aimed at bringing organizational performance up to the level of performance standards. In other words, corrective action focuses on correcting organizational mistakes that hinder organizational performance. Before taking any corrective action, however, managers should make sure that the standards they are using were properly established and that their measurements of organizational performance are valid and reliable. At first glance, it seems a fairly simple proposition that managers should take corrective action to eliminate problems - the factors within an organization that are barriers to organizational goal attainment. In practice, however, it is often difficult to pinpoint the problem causing some undesirable organizational effect.

Barriers for Controlling

There are many barriers, among the most important of them: Control activities can create an undesirable overemphasis on short-term production as opposed to long- term production. Control activities can increase employees' frustration with their jobs and thereby reduce morale. This reaction tends to occur primarily where management exerts too much control. Control activities can encourage the falsification of reports. Control activities can cause the perspectives of organization members to be too narrow for the good of the organization. control process rather than the means by which corrective action is taken.

Requirements For Effective Control

The requirements for effective control are:

Control should be tailored to plans and positions. This means that, all control techniques and systems should reflect the plans they are designed to follow. This is because every plan and every kind and phase of an operation has its unique characteristics. Control must be tailored to individual managers and their responsibilities. This means that controls must be tailored to the personality of individual managers. This because control systems and information are intended to help individual managers carry out their function of control. If they are not of a type that a manager can or will understand, they will not be useful. Control should point up exceptions as critical points. This is because by concentration on exceptions from planned performance, controls based on the time honored exception principle allow managers to detect those places where their attention is required and should be given. However, it is not enough to look at exceptions, because some deviations from standards have little meaning and others have a great deal of significance. Control should be objective. This is because when controls are subjective, a manager’s personality may influence judgments of performance inaccuracy. Objective standards can be quantitative such as costs or man hours per unit or date of job completion. They can also be qualitative in the case of training programs that have specific characteristics or are designed to accomplish a specific kind of upgrading of the quality of personnel. Control should be flexible. This means that controls should remain workable in the case of changed plans, unforeseen circumstances, or outsight failures.Much flexibility in control can be provided by having alternative plans for various probable situations. Control should be economical. This means that control must worth their cost. Although this requirement is simple, its practice is often complex. This is because a manager may find it difficult to know what a particular system is worth, or to know what it costs. Control should lead to corrective actions. This is because a control system will be of little benefit if it does not lead to corrective action, control is justified only if the indicated or experienced deviations from plans are corrected through appropriate planning, organizing, directing, and leading.

Short Question and Answers

Short Question and Answers

1 Define Management? It is a process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims. 2 Name the various managerial functions? Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading, Controlling. 3 What are the different managerial skills.? Technical skills,Human skills, conceptual skills, Design skills. 4 Define productivity? Productivity is defined as an output to input ratio within a time period with consideration for quality.

Essentials of Directing

Essentials of Directing

Directing is said to be a process in which the managers instruct, guide and oversee the performance of the workers to achieve predetermined goals. Directing is said to be the heart of management process. Planning, organizing, staffing have got no importance if direction function does not take place. Directing initiates action and it is from here actual work starts. Direction is said to be consisting of human factors. In simple words, it can be described as providing guidance to workers is doing work. In field of management, direction is said to be all those activities which are designed to encourage the subordinates to work effectively and efficiently. According to Human, “Directing consists of process or technique by which instruction can be issued and operations can be carried out as originally planned” Therefore, Directing is the function of guiding, inspiring, overseeing and instructing people towards accomplishment of organizational goals. Directing means giving instructions, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading the staff in an organisation in doing work to achieve Organisational goals. Directing is a key managerial function to be performed by the manager along with planning, organising, staffing and controlling. From top executive to supervisor performs the function of directing and it takes place accordingly wherever superior – subordinate relations exist. Directing is a continuous process initiated at top level and flows to the bottom through organisational hierarchy.

Decision Making Model

How to make good decisions If you want to lead effectively, you need to make good decisions. If you can learn to do this in a timely and well- considered way, then you can lead your term to spectacular and well deserved success. However, if you dither or make poor decisions, your team risks failure and your time as a leader will probably be brutally short. The techniques in this section help you to make the best decisions possible with the information you have available. They help you map out the likely consequences of decisions, work out the importance of individual factors, and choose the best courses of action. The section starts with some simple techniques that help you to make decisions where many factors are claiming your attention. It then moves on the explain more powerful techniques, such as use of decision trees, 6 thinking hats and cost/ benefit analysis, which are routinely used in commercial decision making.

Decision making The techniques in the section help you to make the best decisions possible with the available information. With these tools you will be able to map out the likely consequences of decisions, work out the importance of individual factors, and choose the best course of action to take. Selecting the most important change to make Evaluating the relative importance of different options Selecting between good options Choosing between options by projecting likely outcomes Weighing the pros and cons of decision Analyzing the pressures for and against change Looking at a decision from all points of view Seeing whether a change is worth making

Organizing Process

Delegation and decentralization Definitions According to Me Farland “delegation is the primary formal mechanism by which the net work authority relationship is established”. According to Hodge and Johnson “a process whereby a superior divides his total work assignment between himself and subordinate manager or operative personal in order to achieve other operative and management specialization". According to Terry “conferring authority from the executive or organizational unit to another in order to accomplish particular assignment”.

Elements of delegation Assignment of the duties and responsibilities - this work is being done only at the time when a superior has no time to accomplish all the work. The superior automatically assign the work to the subordinates. Delegation of authority - if the work is assigned to any subordinate, there will be a need for to accomplish it. Accountability - accountability means that the subordinate is answerable to his immediate superior. If the subordinate has not accomplished the work then the superior is answerable to the management.

Principles of delegation Delegation to go by results expected - the nature of this duty has equal rank with the extent of delegation of authority. The superior has to know what he expect from the subordinate before delegation of authority. Non delegation of responsibility - a superior can delegate authority but not his responsibility. The superior has to be in touch with the subordinate to know the duties are performed and the authority is exercised properly the ultimate responsibility for the performance of duties remains with the superior. Unity of command - the principle of unity of command insists that a subordinate should be assigned duties only by one superior and he is accountable to the concerned one.

Definition of limitation of authority - A person knows well that an authority alone can delegate the authority properly. There should be in written manuals which help the person to understand the authority in right direction.

Planning

What is Planning Planning is decidingvin advance what is to be done. It involves the selection of objectives, policies and programmes from among alternatives. What should a plan be? A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activites, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not gurantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure. Purpose of Plan Just as no two organizations are alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of business. It serves the following three critical functions: Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their businesses or project's development and prospects. Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years. Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed. Importance of the Planning Process A plain can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden oppurtunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it. A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition. Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead.

Management Theory

MANAGEMENT THEORY Introduction
Classical Approach To Management
The history and theory of management are important to managers for various reasons:
They help managers understand current developments and avoid mistakes of the past They foster an understanding and appreciation of current situations and developments and facilitates the prediction of future conditions They help managers organize information and approach problems systematically. Without knowledge of theory, managers would be using guess work, hunches, intuition and hopes which may not be useful in the present complex and dynamic organization.
The practice of management can be traced to the beginning of man.  Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Chinese civilizations all have records indicating the importance of management. (The writings of Sun Tzu on the ‘Art of War’, written 2500 years ago are a lesson on strategic management) In Greece, Socrates the famous philosopher observed that “the management of private affairs such as households is not different from the conduct of public affairs except in magnitude”  The biblical Moses used the Principle of delegation and hierarchy of command to manage the Israelites during the exodus. (Exodus 18: 1-27). Joshua used the management techniques to recruit soldiers for war. The Roman Catholic Church over the centuries has effectively used the principles of division of labor and hierarchy of authority. The Roman empire colonized many parts of the world for many centuries by effectively using basic management ideas such as scalar principle and delegation of authority.  Niccolo Machiavelli in ‘The Prince’ gives relevant ideas on how to develop and use management skills.  He suggests to ‘The Prince’ ideas on – consent of the majority, inspiration of people to greater achievement, offer of rewards and incentives and taking advantage of all opportunities. The above early influences on management, however, do not give much insight into the principles of management as they are not organized and the relationships among various variables are not explained.  The knowledge is based on trial and error and experience rather than organized scientific knowledge. It was only in the late 19th century that large business organizations requiring systematic administration started to emerge.  We shall focus on two early schools of management.
Classical management theory Human  relations neo-classical theory

Introduction to Management

Using Ampersand Sign in Update Statement

update <table_name> set field_name = 'ABC' || chr(38) || 'DEF' where <where clause>


38 is the ASCII code for ampersand (&), and in this form it will be interpreted as a string, nothing else. I tried it and it worked.

PHP Connectivity with MS SQL Server (mssql) commands

<?php
$myServer = "server name";
$myUser = "user name";
$myPass = "password";
$myDB = "database name"; 

//connection to the database
$dbhandle = mssql_connect($myServer, $myUser, $myPass)
  or die("Couldn't connect to SQL Server on $myServer"); 

//select a database to work with
$selected = mssql_select_db($myDB, $dbhandle)
  or die("Couldn't open database $myDB"); 

//declare the SQL statement that will query the database
$query = "SELECT * from table-name";


//execute the SQL query and return records
$result = mssql_query($query);

$numRows = mssql_num_rows($result); 
echo "<h1>" . $numRows . " Row" . ($numRows == 1 ? "" : "s") . " Returned </h1>"; 

//display the results 
echo "<li>" . $row["ItemId"] . $row["ItemName"] . $row["SupplierId"] . "</li>";

}

//close the connection
mssql_close($dbhandle);
?>

Company

Outline: A man is known by the company —  he keeps selection of companions good men —company of wiser men — conclusion.

A man is known by the company he keeps/ just as a tree is known by the fruit it bears. Our associates have great influence on our character. A good and virtuous man will, by the silent influence of his example, make us good, a wicked man will make us wicked like himself. Hundreds of young men are led astray by bad companions. It is very easy to yield to temptations. .

We must choose our companions with very great care. We must shun bad company as poison. In all religions, the company of the virtuous is recommended as a means of spiritual betterment. If we make bad friends, they will spoil our all efforts and bring us disgrace. On the other hand, if someone has good friends, they will bring him honour. It will help him to make progress in life.

Good men will raise us to their level. Men more learned and experienced than ourselves will guide us aright through the difficulties of life. Their example and their teachings will ennoble us, raise our thoughts, place high ideals before us, and encourage us to do right. They would give us solace in times of distress, and confer peace of mind on us. Young men should always' prefer the company of men wiser and better than themselves.

It is a law of nature that we become like those with whom we live, and if we do not sit in the company of men who are better than ourselves, we shall never improve. If we have something good and noble to look up to, we shall imitate it, and if we have a low and vulgar example before us. we shall follow it, and become like - it. The importance of good company for the elevation of character cannot be overrated. „

Company plays a vital role in our life. That is why Islam gives more importance to the company of a scholar that mere prayers. We can aiso touch the heights of glory if we are very careful about our company.

Habits

Outline: Character - qualities effort - work of life - repetition of good - actions - conclusion.

Character is the sum of habits. If these are good, we call the man a man of good character; if bad, we despise him as a bad or a wicked man. Young men should form good habits for habits once formed have a permanent hold on us, and it is not easy to shake them off afterwards. Habit is second nature, therefore good habits should be formed in youth, which may stand us in good stead in the practical struggles of life.

Truthfulness, honesty punctuality, dutifulness. charity, love, kindness, respectfulness, and obedience to parents and elders are the characteristics of noble men, and these should be assiduously cultivated.

Effort is required in the beginning to form a habit, but with patience and perseverance, we succeed in the end. Little children find it difficult to rise early in the morning, attend school, and fix their attention on their lessons, but with repeated efforts, the thing becomes easy. Association with good men and study of good books have great influence in the formation of our character and habits.

Good habits help us in the work of life. An action takes less time and is more easily and satisfactorily performed if we are habituated to it. Certain habits are easy to form, especially bad habits, others require continued effort and frequent repetition.

While we should repeat good actions at regular and proper intervals to make them a pan of our nature, we should with equal care shun bad ones. The best way to get rid of bad habit is not to indulge in them, when the time for their gratifications comes. For instance, if a student is addicted to smoking, is inclined to be lazy, or to tell lies, he should see that when the time comes for him to indulge in that bad habit, he stands firm, resists the temptation and says 'No.' If he denies gratification to his low desires in this way, he will find that no such temptation will come across his path to trouble him.'

Habits can be easily formed up to the age of twenty five, hence young men should take special pains to train themselves in good and righteous habits.

The Influence of Climate on Character

Outline: Introduction- example of Muslims cold countries moist countries Mughals.

Climate has a great influence on character. People living in cold countries are more hardy, active, and enterprising. Those living in hot climates are ease-loving and lazy. In moist climate, people are pale-faced and slow. Of course, where the cold is intense, the people remain inactive, they cannot move about; but temperate countries, especially those situated near the coast, like England, produce energetic and enterprising men. Such a climate is highly conducive to activity. The Esquimaux of Greenland, on the other hand, are mere savages.

Self Respect

Outline: Introduction avoidance from evil not defiles his body the feelings pretension.

A man must respect himself. He should not degrade his body or mind. He is what God has made him. Why should he be ashamed of himself? His duty is to make the most of the powers which he has. Even persons afflicted with any defect or deformity should not hate themselves. A man who despises himself will never rise, and will not command the respect of others. Respect yourself, if you wish to be respected by others.

Self-respect will keep a man away from evil, will not allow him to do anything mean or unworthy, 'Self-respect,' says Smiles, 'is the noblest garment with which a man may clothe himself.' it is the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired. A self-respecting man will not defile his body, nor corrupt his mind. He will neither cringe nor crawl before others, neither fawn nor flatter, but will treat his officers with due respect. He will be courteous and polite to all and sympathetic and kind to his juniors. He will not bully those under him.

To think meanly of one's self is to sink is one's own estimation, and if you think little of yourself, others will think less of you. You cannot rise, if you do not look up. Even the humblest man may be raised by this feeling. Poverty itself will heightened and made bearable by it, and it is really a noble sight to see a poor man holding himself upright, refusing to demean himself by low actions. It is true that persons who think meanly of themselves cannot command the respect of others, but persons who pretend to be what they are not, who are arrogant and presumptuous, bring upon themselves ridicule and hatred.

Self Culture

Outline: Introduction- the highest virtue its cultivation non-dependence conclusion.

Mail has a body mind, and soul, and there are great powers hidden in them, which must be developed. The proper training and development of these powers by one's own diligent effort is self- culture. 'The best part of every man's education." says Sir Walter Scott, 'is that which lie gives to himself.* The education which we receive at school is .more important training which we are to give ourselves on these foundations. That which is imparted to us from outside is not so much ours as that which we acquire by our own application land study.