Efficient Control Process Now Inevitable

Some years ago, I wrote an insightful article on marketers’ figure phobia. The latter is an extreme or irrational fear of, or aversion to figures. The piece also touched on the rivalry between Marketers and Accountants. The former claims credit for bringing in all money that flows into the business, whereas the latter prevents free spending of the same.

Indeed, Marketers are known to fear figures even though their efforts are said to be the force behind business. Actually, no business can survive without selling, a function largely associated with marketing. The rivalry is occasioned by the perceptions of the two key organizational drivers. The accountant refers to marketers as spendthrifts, whereas ‘misers’ is the term bestowed on the former in return.

Nonetheless, all business figures whether from marketers or whatever other sources have to be controlled and properly accounted for, one way or the other. The article sensitized the marketing fraternity on the need to appreciate figures. The figure phobia no doubt precludes many marketers from rising to top organizational leadership positions.

Soon thereafter, something interesting happened. During that time, I was a Council Member in the Marketer’s regulating body and was promptly requested to develop a program on Financial Management for Non-financial Managers.

It was felt that my rich accounting and financial management background was hardy and even better, as I could easily understand the constraints of the marketers and accommodate them accordingly. I obliged and have since loved every bit of the process of training non financial managers on the inevitable financial management process.

Some of the delegates have been entrepreneurs aiming to comprehend the business planning process.  The non-financial persons have been interested in appreciating how to interpret the numerous figures associated with day today business activities. In a recent case, I had not known that the majority of the participants were actually accountants themselves.

There was some good news, which I had been taking for granted. The modern accountant has his work simplified by computerized work environment. Many of them are mostly concerned with keying in data, which is quickly and efficiently processed by the various accounting programs. In the earlier years, there were no such luxuries.

The accountant was doing the backend work that is today computerized. His only tool then was a calculator, an item that was never allowed in exam rooms for those who were sitting professional examinations. That made the accountant to be accustomed to constantly cracking his/her brain, while in the process of developing figure oriented solutions.

Against this background, I find it relatively easy taking training delegates through the process of manually preparing profit/loss statements, balance sheets and budgets/cash flow projections amongst others, just as is expected of the backend operations of the computer. Since today’s accountants only need to press some keys and acquire all the desired reports, they are seemingly fascinated by this inbuilt practical knowledge that was acquired the hard way.

However, we all need to know that what the computerized accounting process does, is to facilitate efficient processing of transactions. It has not removed the need for knowing how the transactions are processed in the backend of the computer. Besides, the computerized operations provide results based on the information provided. If wrong or manipulated information is provided, we end up in difficult situations. That is probably why today’s bank robber no longer utilizes guns but rather, manipulation of organizational figure work.

Recently, one training delegate who has challenged appreciation of figure work was at pains explaining how his employees had frustrated the computerization process. Everybody’s perception of the exercise was focused towards the control of activities rather than enhancing efficiency.  Sadly, the seemingly destabilized employees ensured that the accounting functions, in this hospitality business, could not be computerized whatsoever.

All excuses were employed to forestall the success of the desired effect. The printer could be tampered with whereas in other occasions, the tonners or cartridges would be declared defective. The expected controls would therefore not facilitate achievement of desired efficiency. What is the genesis of these challenges?

One of the main functions of management is the control process. It is about setting standards against, which performance is pegged. Robert J. Mockler defines Management control as a systematic effort by business management to compare performance to predetermined standards, plans, or objectives.

This helps in determining whether performance is in line with these standards. It also helps in deciding whether there is need to take any remedial action to ensure that the human capital and other business resources are being utilized effectively and efficiently, while in the process of achieving corporate objectives.

Largely, the control process is applied to all organizational resources including the human capital. This is at variance with the 21^st Century organizational culture paradigm, which isolates the human capital from other resources. The same are today recognized as the knowledge capital that manipulates all other organizational resources.

Apparently, they can’t be controlled like things or animals. Rather, they are influenced to do things right as is advocated through the leadership process. In this regard, we probably need to consider a different dimension of the control process.

In his book, Problems at Work, L. Ron Habbard articulates another perspective about the process of control. He advocates that work is simply a process of starting an activity, changing the state of the situation and finally stopping the activities involved.

One is deemed to be efficient when able to work through the whole process of starting, changing and finally stopping as is required.  All the workers need to be efficient in starting, changing and stopping the assigned transactions.  The supervisors and managers are equally expected to be efficient in doing likewise. The team efforts yield best results when coordinated through effective leadership.

The latter is about aligning talent, envisioning, adapting to, or crafting change and inspiring people to achieve their goals amongst other attributes. All these are achieved through the power of influence, which is the core driver of the leadership process.   This eventually makes everybody to be, not just a cog that turns the whole wheel, but rather, the engine that drives the desired activities in the assigned situations. But, is that what is happening in organizations?

It all depends. Some are extremely excited about achieving their objectives, whereas others are not. The ideal situation is to have everybody in full control of his/her roles for the whole business or organization to achieve the desired expectations.   For that to happen there may be inevitable need for unity of organizational purpose and direction that is backed by the right skills and attitudes.

The situation is even better when everybody understands the financial impact of their activities in the workplace.  The alternative is persistent need for putting in measures of controlling human beings, which may end up having undesirable consequences.

Meanwhile,

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