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One of the five (5) basic Management Functions

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Staffing
4. Directing
5. Controlling

Helps assure that actual operational results
conform with desired or anticipated results

Absence of control results in a negative effect on
the quantity and quality of work

Considered by some to have disciplinary or
punitive overtones (often viewed negatively)

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Step1 Define the parameters of the work

Step1:
being subjected to the control process

2 Determine actual results
Step 2:

3 Evaluate actual results
Step 3:

4 Compare actual results with expected
Step 4:
results

5 Apply corrective measures when
Step 5:
needed

To increase the operating efficiency of the

organization

To assess the degree to which anticipated results
and actual results conform

To coordinate the various elements of a program or
a task

To increase the likelihood that the organizations
objectives will be achieved

To assist the office employees in performing their
jobs more efficiently

To maximize the organizations profits by
decreasing the amount of work that has to be
redone and by reducing the misuse supplies and
materials

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Factors to control
Identifying which factors within the operation
are to be controlled
Giving enough control to significant factors and
eliminating from further considerations any
insignificant factors promote efficiency and
avoid waste of resources

Identification of Anticipated Results
Comparing actual and anticipated results
Importance of communicating actual and
expected performance levels (manager to
employee)

Measurement Devices
Measuring actual results before comparing
them with anticipated results
Performance standards
TQM: baseline goals

Application of Corrective Measures
Actual results are less than anticipated results
Authority of a manager or supervisor to take
corrective actions

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Quality standards: standards that provide the

ability to evaluate the accuracy with which
work is produced

Without quality control, errors are likely to go
unnoticed

Quality evaluation as somewhat subjective
since individuals have different perceptions

Quality control program involves determining
minimum standards of acceptability

Total Inspection:
Involves a complete inspection of each unit of work
produced by each employee
Quite desirable for certain types of office work (e.g.,
proofreading, arithmetical calculations, statistical data)

Zero defects:
Error prevention process which requires that employees do
their work correctly the first time
Involves more than identifying and correcting errors but
also motivating employees to do error-free work
Commitment and suggestions from employees

Spot Checking:
Involves periodic inspection of the work produced within a
unit
Frequently challenged since it does not use statistical
processes to determine how much, who, and when the
checks are to be made.
Intuition; subjective

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Statistical Quality Control

Involves inspecting a randomly selected sample that
helps produce accurate and reliable results
Sampling: based on the laws of probability, which
involves a portion of a population rather than the entire
population.
Normal distribution: based on the principle that
randomly observed occurrences of a sufficient quantity
tend to be distributed around the mean or averages of
all the occurrences
Control limits: determining at what point the errors are
attributed to chance and at what point they are
attributed to some identifiable cause requires the
establishment of control limits.

More encompassing quality program; involves

virtually every employee within the organization

Concerned not only with the organizations
products and/or services but also with the delivery
of the products and/or services and everything
involved in getting them to the customer

Critical ingredients:
Customer satisfaction: external and internal
Accurate statistical measurement
Ongoing improvement of products and/or services
New employee relations: work team and employee
empowerment

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Developed by Motorola

Allows no more than 3.4 defects per million units,
processes, or procedures subjected to measurement

Derived from standard deviation (one sigma: 68.3%, two
sigma: 95%, )

Employees must buy in to the concept; ongoing employee
commitment and teamwork are critical

As a process:
1. Identifying the area(s) that will be subject
2. Measuring present results to set benchmark
3. If below standard (3.4 defects per 1 million), causes of
the problem are determined
4. Designing quality improvement process
5. Once sully installed, continual, ongoing measurement
becomes critical

Quantity Standards: provide the ability to determine

whether production is matching expectations;
quantifiable

Unless the standards are fairly accurate, the base for
quantity control is not valid

Data gathered during work measurement processes
are used as the basis for developing quantity
standards

Work measurement: designed to determine what
constitutes a fair days work for both the employer
and employee

Effects of fluctuations (amount of work) with quantity
control

Short interval scheduling technique

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Controlling Fluctuations (Too much work/peak period)

Employee overtime: occurrences and possibility of off-
setting (time off)
Temporary help: temporary employment agencies for one
or for several weeks
Part-time help: regular fluctuations; hiring the same
employees eliminates the need for new training
Floating work unit: employees float to wherever they are
needed; employees are fairly competent in many areas
Cycle billing: customer accounts are spread over a full
month instead of concentrating in one or few days.

(Too little work):
Time off
Work backlog
Maintenance projects: e.g., reorganizing, cleaning files, etc.

Short Interval Scheduling

Helps ensure the completion of a given amount of work
in a given amount of time
Provides the mechanism for determining whether or not
the work is completed according to schedule
Allows managers or supervisors to determine whether or
not the output standards are consistently maintained
Assumptions:
1. When employees are trying to attain production goals,
they improve their chances of being successful by
using short-range rather than long-range production
goals.
2. Employees are motivated to perform at higher levels
because of the short-range nature of the goals and
because of the frequent evaluation of their success in
reaching predetermined goals.
Expected production levels must be determined (use of
assignment record and summary sheet)

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Process that aids in assuring the completion of work

by the expected deadline

Greater control is possible, which helps ensure the
successful completion of a given project

Work Scheduling Devices:
1. Schedule Log:
frequently used to schedule office work;
lists the task to be completed, the expected date of
completion, the name of the individual responsible for
completing the task, and the start and completion times
2. Work Chart:
identifies the days on which subprojects must be
completed;
project supervisors works backward from the completion
date

Work Scheduling Devices:

3. Work Schedule Calendar:
Day-by-day schedule for a weeks duration, lists
jobs or projects that are to be started each day as
well as the assigned employee/s
When an employee completes one project, the next
one can be started without the supervisors having
to make the assignment at that time
4. Gantt Chart:
developed by Henry Gantt, visually provides a day-
to-day list of jobs that are to be completed, as well
as the estimated completion time
More appropriate for longer, more complex
projects than the work schedule calendar

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Work Scheduling Devices:

5. Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT):
Takes into consideration the critical subprojects of a
complex project and determines the expected length of
time for completing these subprojects
Most suitable for projects comprised of many parts or
components
Critical path: longest routes, consists of the
components that must be completed within the
scheduled time before the project is finished
Noncritical components: can be completed at any time
during the course of the project with no adverse impact
on the projects completion
Presents the estimated number of days needed to
complete each component

Chapter 24 (Quality and Quantity Control)

Quible, Zane K.. Administrative Office Management:
An Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2005
(8th edition).