P.management long Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

P.management long - Essay Example There will also be a discussion on some of the key challenges and difficulties that companies may face while using management control systems as packages. What are Management Control Systems? As Lawson states, â€Å"management control systems are methods of collecting information that are used to guide and direct the behavior of staff members and management in order to achieve a company's goals† (1). Management control system is basically a mechanism companies use to collect information required to manage and control the activities regarding accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. Management control systems include a set of guidelines and techniques for companies that can be used to operate business processes and activities effectively and efficiently. Both managers and employees make use of those directions or methods to bring improvement in their individual and departmental performances, as well as to achieve organizational goals. In today’s world of co mpetition, companies need to adapt quickly to the use of technology in order to come in line for competition with other companies. In this regard, it is the need of today for the companies to adopt the use of management control systems to benefit from ongoing changes instead of leaving behind in the race of competition. Employees and managers need to use their knowledge regarding change to react positively to the changes in the internal and external business environment to improve organizational level of productivity and profitability. They need to link strategic planning and organizational processes by using the operational guidelines of management control systems. The focus of management control systems is not just on a single form of control, such as, performance measures, rather it covers multiple control systems that work together to achieve organizational goals. Therefore, management control systems can be used to direct all administrative matters, as well as to manage the iss ues of employees. Management Control Systems as Packages As Sandelin states, â€Å"the functionality of a control package depends on internal consistency, specifically on the reciprocal linkages of design and use between a primary mode of control and other control elements† (324). In today’s world, the needs of every company regarding internal controls and functionality of different departments are different from every other company. This shows that proper functionality of a management control package is highly dependent on a company’s internal level of operational consistency, as well as on links between different internal controls and systems. The need to use management control systems as packages can be understood by the fact that using such systems in isolation can lead to various administrative issues and organizational problems because all organizational systems and processes are interrelated. Therefore, it is the need of companies to use management contro l systems as packages not only to make an efficient use of organizational systems but also to ensure consistency of processes. According to Sandelin, the variety and operational efficiency of a control package is totally dependent on the way employees and managers of a company takes care of its functional requirements and demands (324). This statement shows that use of control package is