Control and Mechanisms

“The control environment sets the tone of an organization, influencing the control consciousness of its people. It is the foundation for all other components of internal control, providing discipline and structure.” The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) published the Internal Control–Integrated Framework in 1992. As summarized above one can see the importance of the implementation of an effective control environment, as it sets the foundation for the other 4 components of internal control. The control environment is made up fundamental smaller components. The ones that were particularly relevant to BMIS are the use of board of directors and audit committee, management philosophy and operating style, and human resource policies and practices. If management doesn’t prioritize control, then the rest of the organization will not put precedence on following policies and procedures either. This was clearly evident at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BMIS), and ultimately led to their downfall.

Ahrens and Chapman go on to introduce their article by giving a background knowledge of modern perceptions of management control systems through their mention of related literature. Some key points discuss pertain to the author’s

Overall Strength: in general, the article provides structure to a concept that is very intangible by: (a) describing the nature and the functions of control; (b) segregating the MCS into categories: core control system, organizational structure, and organizational culture; (c) illustrating how to apply the control model (satisfied my approach) (d) provides a basis for designing and evaluating the system. The manner, in which the model is presented, with its use of figures, further emphasizes the structure of the model. See below on further emphasis on parts (a) -(c).

The Degree of oversight related to the company’s control structure exercised by the management: Section 4, under topic Assignment of Authority and responsibility, of the questionnaire suggests that the Supervisors have broad levels of authority and the responsibility of day-to-day decisions lies on the shoulders of the supervisors and

The second aspect of management used to investigate the issue is Controlling. Control is a concern that is facing every manager in every organisation today. Many businesses continually look to improve relationships between all levels of staff in order for a healthy working environment. To effectively control a business the organisation requires information about

The factors that drive Nike’s decision to stick with its current organizational structure include its well-established brand name in the industry. The company positioned itself as a brand

A concept we learned about in Business Leadership that relates to the main point in this book is control systems. We looked at the importance of control in management and learned about various different systems. In this book, systems are shown to greatly help customer service. Systems are predetermined ways to get a specific result and still ensure consistency. Andrew, the plant manager said “Systems give you a floor, not a ceiling”. Thus, a system is the sort of thing you build on, a starting point. An external control measure, for example, involves

Controlling is monitoring the performance of the organization, identifying deviations between planned and actual results, and taking corrective action when necessary. With all these four functions that are involved in the process of management, if all are followed correctly the organization will be properly ran and will have few complications.

Nike’s main strategy revolves around product branding. Their brand compromises of a swoosh logo which is accompanied by a message of “just do it”. The logo was imprinted on all of their products with the message developed to express the individuality of their target group. The branding was further promoted by Nike’s relentless approach on the quality of their product as demonstrated when considering overseas business opportunities, quality must not be compromised in order to do so. This ensures consumer satisfaction and loyalty towards Nike.

We are also informed that Knight is subordinate oriented, as per the leadership continuum developed by Tannenbaum and Schmidt. In this approach the manager allows the team to develop options and make decisions within their mandate which has been agreed upon at the onset. In the case of Knight, it is demonstrated on more than one occasion that he is prepared to sit and watch from the sidelines, whilst his executives make decisions. This style is very suitable for industries whereby there is a need for development of new products within the organization. In Nike, we observe that they are always in the process of developing new products and therefore giving his senior executives a “free hand” in developing new ideas and executing them is vital to the success of the organization.

Nike soon realized even though they have attempted to make changes within their subcontracting companies it has not been enough. Nike realized they have an ongoing obligation to the workers, as well to the different cultures that are involved. Nike implemented a process called The Compliance Generation, which involves increasing their business value by establishing the function, fighting fires, building a global team, and establishing partners. Employee management interaction making the work more systematic, building excellence in management audits, building environment, safety, and health global process, creating transparency, and creating ratings. Nike wants to have a transformational focus on building excellence in factory remediation, developing a sustainable sourcing strategy, building business integration and accountability, increasing contract factory ownership of corporate responsibility, and building industry conditions (Nikebiz, 2010).

Enderle, K., Hirsch, D., Micka, L., Saving, B., Shah, S., Szerwinski, T. (2000, March 14). Strategic Analysis of Nike, Inc. Retrieved on December 14, 2005, from

Management Control Systems are systems that are put into place within organisations to help ensure that managers within organisation’s act

A good control system provides timely information to the manager which is very much useful for taking various decisions. Control simplifies supervision by pointing out the significant deviations from the standards of performance. It keeps the subordinates under check and brings discipline among them.

The purpose of this case study is to describe and analyse the features of the management control system (MCS) of University of Southern California (USC). Before commencing the analysis a brief background of USC is provided.