Commerce: Management Functions: Controlling

• In our introduction to management, we defined what management is
• In simple terms, management is the art of doing work through others
• However, management can also be defined in terms of its functions
• These functions are the duties that a typical manager is expected to perform regardless of their field or the business in question
• There are five functions of management namely:
  • Planning
  • Organising
  • Coordinating
  • Leading
  • Controlling
• In this section, we will look at controlling
• Controlling is the management function that is concerned with monitoring how activities are carried out and keeping the organisation on track to achieve set plans
• It involves:
  1. establishing performance standards that must be adhered to
  2. Comparing actual performance to set standards and if there is any deviation
  3. Take corrective action
• It is important to point out at this stage that controlling is not necessarily the last step in the management process
• Rather controlling can be carried out at any stage
• For example, last years business performance can be used to create more realistic plans
• In this case, management uses the previous year’s experience to take corrective action to the planning process
• In this way controlling can be used to inform on the best way to carry out leading, organising and coordinating processes

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