Management Control

Question 1

What is management

Answer 1

• managers are agents of the capital
• managers have taken away control from the owners to ensure efficient operation and to achieve its relevant goals (Rose, 2008)

Question 2

Labour process theory

Answer 2

nature of work, employment relations, necessary skills and compensation for work

Question 3

Management control starts with

Answer 3

labour process theory

Question 4

What are the concepts of power

Answer 4

• coercion
• consent
  (Fox, 1985)

Question 5

Coercion

Answer 5

managers rely only on the exercise of naked power to force employees to do his will

Question 6

Consent

Answer 6

exercise of power is less obvious and direct ways to engineer voluntary compliance with a decision or policy

Question 7

Friedman (1977) types of control

Answer 7

• direct control
• responsible autonomy

Question 8

Problem with Friedman, 1977

Answer 8

over simplistic, presents 1 dimension of control

Question 9

Direct control

Answer 9

• Taylorism, centralised decision making
• clear chain of command, high levels of supervision
• top-down communication
• hierarchical structures

Question 10

Responsible autonomy

Answer 10

• decentralised decision making, encourages innovation
• degree of freedom and empowerment within predefined boundaries and guidelines

Question 11

Edwards (1979) types of control

Answer 11

• simple
• technical
• bureaucratic

Question 12

Simple control

Answer 12

• Taylorism, direct supervision
• use of personal authority to regulate and monitor employees
• used in small organisations
• often results in demotivated employees
• railroad construction in early years of industrialisation
• managers control work, employees execute it
• seen as inhumane

Question 13

Technical control

Answer 13

• use of technology, systems, procedures to monitor (Fordism)
• standardised process to ensure consistency
• assembly line didn’t improve working conditions
• motivation relied on fear and punishment
• authority in the organisational structure
• deskilling of workers, fragmented work

Question 14

Bureaucratic control

Answer 14

• rules and regulations (attendance, job descriptions)
• authority in the social structure
• sets targets for monitoring e.g., scanning targets
• bureaucracy constrains and enables
• solved some motivation problems
• not found in creative industries
• emotional labour and aesthetic labour

Question 15

Why is control complex and continuous

Answer 15

• managers need to respond to new challenges
• depends on the organisation and industry

Question 16

Control in the service economy

Answer 16

• Fordism worked but motives changed (worker resistance, technological improvements)
• post-fordism (move from mass production to service economy, specialised products and jobs)
• co-existence of fordism and post-fordism (McDonalds)

Question 17

Four dimensions of McDonaldisation

Answer 17

• efficiency (focus on speed and accuracy)
• calculability (quality = quantity)
• predictability (standardisation)
• control (direct - manager and customer, technical - time clock, bureaucratic - dress code)

Question 18

Control in the gig economy

Answer 18

• uber uses technical and bureaucratic control (electronic surveillance, performance targets)
• customers as managers - ratings by customers on speed

Question 19

Emotional labour (Hochschild)

Answer 19

• flight attendant
• employees requires to manage emotions

Question 20

Aesthetic labour

Answer 20

• Hollister
• has a dimension of emotional labour

Question 21

Example of control

Answer 21

call centres