Fundamentals of Management 6th Edition by Ricky Griffin

Exercise 18

Introduction: Control systems must be carefully constructed for all organizations, regardless of their specific goals. The following assessment surveys your ideas about and approaches to control.
Instructions: You will agree with some of the statements and disagree with others. In some cases, making a decision may be difficult, but you should force yourself to make a choice. Record your answers next to each statement according to the following scale.
Rating Scale
4 Strongly agree
3 Somewhat agree
2 Somewhat disagree
1 Strongly disagree
_______ 1. Effective controls must be unbending if they are to be used consistently.
_______ 2. The most objective form of control is one that uses measures such as stock prices and rate of return on investment (ROI).
_______ 3. Control is restrictive and should be avoided if at all possible.
_______ 4. Controlling through rules, procedures, and budgets should not be used unless measurable standards are difficult or expensive to develop.
_______ 5. Overreliance on measurable control standards is seldom a problem for business organizations.
_______ 6. Organizations should encourage the development of individual self-control.
_______ 7. Organizations tend to try to establish behavioral controls as the first type of control to be used.
_______ 8. The easiest and least costly form of control is output or quantity control.
_______ 9. Short-run efficiency and long-run effectiveness result from the use of similar control standards.
_______ 10. Controlling by taking into account ROI and using stock prices in making control decisions are ways of ensuring that a business organization is responding to its external market.
_______ 11. Self-control should be relied on to replace other forms of control.
_______ 12. Controls such as ROI are more appropriate for corporations and business units than for small groups or individuals.
_______ 13. Control is unnecessary in a well managed organization.
_______ 14. The use of output or quantity controls can lead to unintended or unfortunate consequences.
_______ 15. Standards of control do not depend on which constituency is being considered.
_______ 16. Controlling through the use of rules, procedures, and budgets can lead to rigidity and to a loss of creativity in an organization.
_______ 17. Different forms of control cannot be used at the same time. An organization must decide how it is going to control and stick to that method.
_______ 18. Setting across-the-board output or quantity targets for divisions within a company can lead to destructive results.
_______ 19. Control through rules, procedures, and budgets is generally not very costly.
_______ 20. Reliance on individual self-control can lead to problems with integration and communication.