Chapter 11: Information and Control Processes 391
How do your work habits fit with making plans and setting goals? Answer the following questions as they apply to your work or study behavior. Please answer whether each item is Mostly True or Mostly False for you.
Mostly Mostly
True True
1. set clear, specific goals in goals in more than one area of my work and life —— ——
2. I have a definite outcome in life I want to achieve. —— ——
3. I prefer general to specific
goals. —— ——
4. I work better without
specific deadlines. —— ——
5. I set aside time day or
week to plan my work. —— ——
6. I am clear about the
measures that indicate
when I have achieved a
goal. —— ——
7. I work better when I set
more challenging goals for
myself —— ——
8. I help other people clarify
and define their goals. —— ——
9. Trying for specific goals
makes life more fun than
being without goals. —— ——
Scoring: Give yourself one point for each item you marked as Mostly True, except items 3 and 4. For items 3 and 4 give yourself one point for each one you marked Mostly False. If you scored 4 or less, goal-setting behavior may not be natural for you. A score of 6 or above suggests a positive level of goal-setting behavior and better prepara¬tion for a managerial role in an organization.
Interpretation: An important part of organization life is setting goals, measuring results, and reviewing progress for people and departments. Most organizations have goal-setting and review systems. The preceding questions indicate the extent to which you have already adopted the disciplined use of goals in your life and work. Research indicates that setting clear, specific, and challenging goals in key areas will produce better performance. Not everyone thrives under a disciplined goal-setting system, but as an organization manager, setting goals, assessing results, and holding people accountable will enhance your impact. Goal-setting can be learn
activities.¹¹ These feedback control systems include the formalized information- based activities for planning, budgeting, performance evaluation, resource alloca¬tion, and employee rewards. Targets are set in advance, outcomes compared to targets, and variances reported to managers for corrective action. Exhibit 11.4 lists four control system elements that are often considered the core of management control systems: the budget and financial reports; periodic nonfinancial statistical reports; reward systems; and quality-control systems.¹²
The budget is typically used to set targets for the organization’s expenditures for the year and then report actual costs on a monthly or quarterly basis. As a means of control, budgets report actual as well as planned expenditures for cash, assets, raw materials, salaries, and other resources so that managers can take action to correct variances. Sometimes, the variance between budgeted and actual amounts for each
