What is a Management Control System?

A management control system maintains a detailed level of oversight over the use of resources within a business. The system assigns responsibility for resource consumption to various individuals, whose performance is judged based on their ability to manage resources in the most effective manner possible. The control system works best when performance is tied to the goals of the organization. The information used in a management control system is based on a budget or other plan that is compared to actual results, with variances being reported to responsibility centers throughout the organization. Some of the techniques that can be used in this type of system are:

Types of Management Controls

A management control system typically includes a large number of controls, which are classified as result controls, action controls, personnel controls, and cultural controls. More specifically:

Result controls. These controls are designed to influence the actions of employees, since these controls either reward or penalize them for the actions they take. They are not designed to dictate how employees should do their jobs; instead, they are targeted at the outcomes – employees can generally do whatever is needed to attain the desired results.
Action controls. These controls are intended to force employees to take actions beneficial to the organization, and not to take actions that do not benefit it. For example, an action control could state what is acceptable (or not), measures the indicated actions, and either rewards or penalizes employees based on the measured outcomes.
Personnel controls. Personnel controls are intended to sway employees to engage in activities on their own that are to the benefit of the organization. They will do this because they have been screened as being hard-working and honest, and derive satisfaction from performing the work. Personnel controls work best when employees are provided with sufficient training and tools to complete their work, and also have work instructions that clearly state how they are supposed to perform their jobs.
Cultural controls. Cultural controls set boundaries around what is considered acceptable within an organization, driving employees to influence the actions of each other. In essence, a properly-designed culture results in group pressure to operate in a certain way.