Module 4 – Case
CONTROLLING
Assignment Overview
Before starting on this assignment, carefully go through all
of the required background readings including the Pearson tutorial and the
textbook chapters. Focus on the four main steps involved in the control
process: setting goals and standards, measuring performance, comparing actual
performance to performance goals, and taking corrective actions. Also, pay
close attention to the different methods of control outlined in the background
materials.
Case Assignment
For this assignment you will be reviewing four hypothetical
scenarios. Go through each scenario, and think about what went wrong regarding
the control process. For each scenario, discuss the following two issues:
What do you think went wrong in terms of the four main steps
in the control process? Refer to the four steps in the control process
discussed in Section 9.3 of Badenhorst, et al. (2010).
What control system do you think should be implemented to
correct this problem in the control process. Refer to one of the methods of
control discussed on pages 212-219 of Hill and McShane (2006). Your paper
should be four to five pages in length, with roughly equal space in your paper
devoted to each of the four scenarios below:
Suppose as part of a company’s standards they require their
salesforce team to make 12 phone calls per hour with no more than five minutes
of phone time per customer. The company fails to meet their profit targets, and
a review of salesforce records reveals that they were only making an average of
10 phone calls per hours. Corrective actions are taken, and the salesforce
starts making 12 phone calls per hour. But profits still don’t improve and fail
to meet targets. [Discuss both questions A and B above regarding this scenario.
Your answer should be one to one and a half pages in length]
Now suppose an airline sets strategic goals of both reducing
flight delays and improving safety requirements. At the end of year a
comprehensive review is done that shows that the company met its standards both
in terms of reduced flight delays and improvements in safety standards.
However, shortly after the review the airline company receives several fines
from the Federal Aviation Administration for safety violations. [Discuss both
questions A and B above regarding this scenario. Your answer should be one to
one and a half pages in length]
An automobile manufacturer decides on a goal of reducing
production defects from 10% to 5%. Defects are monitored closely, careful
records are kept, and production line is often videotaped. At the end of year
production defects are still around 10%. Management decides that even more
monitoring is necessary and decides that all production processes be
videotaped. But after another year production defects are still around 10%.
[Discuss both questions A and B above regarding this scenario. Your answer
should be one to one and a half pages in length]
A video game company decides to boost profits by creating
five new games over the coming year. Carefully monitoring is done over the new
game development process and all five new games are created as scheduled with
high quality standards. However, only one of the five games ends up selling and
the other four end up losing money. So overall profits have not been boosted
and have actually declined. [Discuss both questions A and B above regarding
this scenario. Your answer should be one to one and a half pages in length]
Assignment Expectations
Answer the assignment questions directly.
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions. Don’t go
off on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials.
Make sure to use reliable and credible sources as your
references. Articles published in established newspapers or business
journals/magazines are preferred. If you find articles on the internet, make
sure it is from a credible source.
Reference your sources of information with both a
bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality
Academic Paper, including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations. Another
resource is the “Writing Style Guide,” which is found under “My Resources” in
the TLC portal.
