Control instrument

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A control instrument is an aid or tool that is used to influence technical , operational or economic processes and systems in a targeted manner . The term is most commonly used in economics writings. The key interest rate and the money supply are referred to as the central bank's economic control instruments , and corporate planning, targets and key figures are presented as useful control instruments for managing organizations. The term control instrument is strongly associated with the navigation, operating and control elements of a cockpit , dashboard or driver's cab of a vehicle or an industrial plant.

need

Organizations, companies or economies are complex living systems that are subject to constant development and change. Control instruments emerged from the interest of the actors, participants, beneficiaries and managers of these systems to positively influence their development through regulating mechanisms with regard to collective goals or to avert unwanted conditions and stagnations.

functionality

In the economic sense, control is defined as the orderly, information processing process for the implementation, control and safeguarding of plan specifications. Control is based on the correct interpretation of indicators and the causal relationship between the regulation of one or more influencing variables and the resulting effect on the system to be controlled. Control instruments measure both the change in the influencing variable as well as the endogenous system to be controlled and have to fulfill three basic functions:

1. The determination and registration of the starting position and the destination
2. The calculation of the optimal course to the destination
3. The continuous determination of course deviations

In order to be able to map past economic processes in companies and organizations, a financial model is required as a means of information, such as accounting (financial and operational accounting). A central control instrument is cost center accounting , which localizes the overhead costs of a company to the organizational areas of responsibility and enables control through comparison with cost center planning. The most important control instruments also include cost unit accounting , which determines the cost of sales-relevant products and services of a company and thus provides an important basis for the development of the company in its product and price policy. Also, financial ratios or Balanced Scorecards that compresses information about tangible objects of complex economic processes and corporate values serve as control instruments.

See also

literature

  • M. Schweitzer, H.-U. Küpper: Systems of cost and revenue accounting . Munich 1998, ISBN 3-8006-2276-9 .
  • P. Horváth: The controlling concept . 3. Edition. Munich 1998, ISBN 3-406-43529-7 .
  • A. Matz: Planning and controlling costs and profits . 1st edition. Wiesbaden 1964.
  • R. Kaplan, D. Norton: Balanced Scorecard, Successful Implementation of Strategies . Stuttgart 1997.