Management control system
A set of processes and mechanisms managers use to guide organizational behavior and align decisions with an organization’s objectives.
Responsibility accounting: An accounting approach that assigns revenues, costs, or assets to managers responsible for them. It makes managers answerable for the parts of performance they can influence.
Organizational objective: A desired outcome that an organization seeks to achieve. Controls need objectives against which decisions and results can be judged.
Bureaucratic control: A form of organizational control based on formal rules, procedures, and hierarchical authority. It emphasizes standardized compliance, unlike controls centered on results or shared norms.
Strategic management: The process of setting organizational direction and coordinating choices to pursue it. Control systems help turn strategic choices into monitored action.
Management by objectives: A management approach in which managers and employees agree on objectives and assess progress against them. It turns organizational priorities into explicit goals for individuals and teams.
Organizational structure: The formal arrangement of roles, authority, and relationships within an organization. Structure determines who can make decisions and who is accountable for them.
Clan control: A form of organizational control based on shared values, socialization, and group norms. It coordinates behavior through belonging and shared expectations rather than detailed rules.
Corporate governance: The structures and processes through which organizations are directed and overseen. Governance establishes oversight responsibilities that interact with internal managerial controls.
Balanced scorecard: A performance framework that connects strategy to measures across financial, customer, internal-process, and learning perspectives. It broadens control beyond financial results while keeping measures tied to strategy.
Performance measurement: The process of quantifying results or activities using defined indicators. Measures supply the information used to evaluate progress and performance.