Management Control
Management Control
Management control is the set of feedback processes used to steer a project or organization toward its objectives. Control does not eliminate uncertainty; it detects variance early and enables corrective action.
Cybernetic control model
A classic model treats control as a negative feedback loop:
- set goals/standards,
- measure performance,
- compare performance to goals,
- identify variances and causes,
- take corrective action and adjust plans.
Management control in civil engineering
Typical control domains:
- cost control (budgets, earned value, forecasting),
- schedule control (critical path, look-ahead planning, productivity),
- quality control (inspection/testing, nonconformance management),
- risk control (risk registers, triggers, response tracking),
- safety control (leading indicators, incident learning).
Designing controls
Effective controls are:
- timely (information arrives early enough to act),
- reliable (data quality is understood),
- decision-linked (connected to authority and action),
- proportional (control effort matches consequence).