Wal-Mart

The control factor is used by management to see if the if the actual performance matches that standards of the organization. If their any deviations, actions can be taken to correct the activities and ensure that the company’s resources are used most productively. Wal-Mart is the major retail corporation situated in United States and it has been positioned as the best on the Fortune 500 Index. Wal-Mart has optimized its human resources, technology and physical assets for optimization and efficiency through planning, powerful control and effective organizing skills held by the management of Wal-Mart. The ability to optimize so many different aspects for such a large chain of departmental stores is truly a commendable fact and there is no refuting of the fact that Wal-Mart’s managerial efficiency is the key to the optimization of its human resource, IT base and physical capital.

The organization uses a variety of control methods that enable it to be meeting its targets effectively. Some of the methods that Wal-Mart makes use of that helps enhancing its efficiency are described below

Bureaucratic control is the manner of control which is extremely formal and rigid; it functions in a cycle and basically consists of formal written course of actions that are followed. Rules, hierarchy of control and excessive documentation are some of the procedures associated with bureaucratic control. It consists of firstly of establishing standards of performances that should be followed. Then evaluating performance according to the set standards, if the applications do not meet the standards remedial actions should be taken to regulate performance so that it matches the set criteria.

In Budgetary controls budgets are examined to make various decisions at the workplace. So the managers can study a variety of events in light of the budget constraint available and can also enable managers to predict the cost of certain activities with ease and the take their decision accordingly.

Clan Control is actually the opposite of bureaucratic control as it deals with the informal relationship amongst co workers, the norms, values and culture of the organization to shape the employees behavior and help in attaining the organizations overall objectives. For this manner of organization to be effective in an organization it is essential for it o have a strong organizational culture and management to have trust amongst their employees. In this style of control the organization has to give least guidelines to employees as they themselves participate to achieve the goals of the organization.

Market control makes use of price competition to appraise productivity. In this style of control managers evaluate profits and prices to determine the competence of their organization. For this mode of control to be applicable there should be a reasonable amount of competition regarding price in the organization.

To sum up control mechanisms are essential for the productivity of any organization as it help to ensure that the company is utilizing its recourses efficiently. The fact that Wal-Mart is able to compete on prices is due to the market control it has excellently implemented this provides the company a competitive edge to deal with its competitors. Additionally the budgetary control aid the managers in Wal-Mart to observe if they are not exceeding the set budgets of the activities, which makes certain that the costs of the company is not rising unnecessarily. Moreover the strong organization culture Wal-Mart has and the high trust factor it has amongst its employees assists in an informal clan control to be developed that also guarantees that the goals of the organization are met without rigid bureaucratic control being implemented.

References

1.      Management Moves of Wal-Mart. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23, 2008, from Company Details:Wal-Mart
      website: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retail_trends/l/aa011500a.htm
2.      Wal-Mart. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23, 2008, from Company Details:Wal-Mart website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart
3.      Wal-Mart Management. (n.d.). Retrieved May 23, 2008, from Thinking Managers website: http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/companies/wal-mart.php
      4.     http://www.strategic-control.24xls.com/en111