Lessons to Management from the Control Loop Phenomenon
In a none-super-competitive environment the concepts
of closed system, management control remains to be the dominant
guiding concept to management. The merits of closed loop have been
the sources of most of the management literature and culture for
many decades. It is a useful exercise to investigate and poke into the
dynamics of the control loop phenomenon and draws some lessons to
use for refining the practice of management. This paper examines the
multitude of lessons abstracted from the behavior of the Input /output
/feedback control loop model, which is the core of control theory.
There are numerous lessons that can be learned from the insights this
model would provide and how it parallels the management dynamics
of the organization. It is assumed that an organization is basically a
living system that interacts with the internal and external variables. A
viable control loop is the one that reacts to the variation in the
environment and provide or exert a corrective action. In managing
organizations this is reflected in organizational structure and
management control practices. This paper will report findings that
were a result of examining several abstract scenarios that are
exhibited in the design, operation, and dynamics of the control loop
and how they are projected on the functioning of the organization.
Valuable lessons are drawn in trying to find parallels and new
paradigms, and how the control theory science is reflected in the
design of the organizational structure and management practices. The
paper is structured in a logical and perceptive format. Further
research is needed to extend these findings.
[1] Ashby, W.R., An Introduction to Cybernetics, Chapman and Hall,
London, 1956.
[2] Baker, F., Organizational Systems: General Systems Approaches to
Complex Organizations, Irwin, Homewood, IL, 1973.
[3] Bennis, W., "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future," in
H.Leavitt, L. Pinfield & E. Webb (Eds.), Organizations of the Future:
Interaction with the External Environment, Praeger, New York, 1974.
[4] Hall, R.H., Organizations: Structure and Process, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1977.
[5] Huber, G.P., "The Nature of Organization Decision Making and the
Design of Decision Support Systems," MIS Quarterly, (June 1981).
[6] Katz, D. & Kahn, R.L., The Social Psychology of Organizations, John
Wiley & Sons, New York, 1966.
[7] Kotter, J., "Managing External Dependence," Academy of Management
Review, 3 (1979), 87-92.
[8] Leavitt, H.J. & Whisler, T.L., "Management in the 1990s," Harvard
Business Review, (November-December 1958), 41-48.
[9] Malone, T.W. & Crowston, K., "Toward an Interdisciplinary Theory of
Coordination," Technical Report 120, Center for Coordination Science,
MIT, 1991.
[10] Malone, T.W. & Smith, S.A., "Tradeoffs in Designing Organizations:
Implications for New Forms of Human Organizations and Computer
Systems," Working Paper 112, Center for Information Systems
Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March 1984.
[11] Mintzberg, H., The Structuring of Organizations, Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1979.
[12] Ramstrom, D.O., "Toward the Information-Saturated Society," in
H.Leavitt, L. Pinfield & E. Webb (Eds.), Organizations of the Future:
Interaction with the External Environment, Praeger, New York, 1974,
159- 75.
[13] Samuel C. Certo Modern Management (9th Edition), Prentice Hall,
2002, ISBN: 0130670898.
[14] Sharlett Gillard and Jane Johansen, "Project management
communication: a systems approach", Journal of Information Science,
30 (1) 2004, pp. 23-29.
[15] Simon, H.A., "The Architecture of Complexity," in The Sciences of the
Artificial, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1968, 84- 118.
[16] Terreberry, S., "The Evolution of Organizational Environments,"
Administrative Science Quarterly, 12 (1968), 590- 613.
[17] The MathWorks products MATLABĀ®. Tom Peters, "Liberation
Management", Ballantine book 1992.
[1] Ashby, W.R., An Introduction to Cybernetics, Chapman and Hall,
London, 1956.
[2] Baker, F., Organizational Systems: General Systems Approaches to
Complex Organizations, Irwin, Homewood, IL, 1973.
[3] Bennis, W., "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future," in
H.Leavitt, L. Pinfield & E. Webb (Eds.), Organizations of the Future:
Interaction with the External Environment, Praeger, New York, 1974.
[4] Hall, R.H., Organizations: Structure and Process, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1977.
[5] Huber, G.P., "The Nature of Organization Decision Making and the
Design of Decision Support Systems," MIS Quarterly, (June 1981).
[6] Katz, D. & Kahn, R.L., The Social Psychology of Organizations, John
Wiley & Sons, New York, 1966.
[7] Kotter, J., "Managing External Dependence," Academy of Management
Review, 3 (1979), 87-92.
[8] Leavitt, H.J. & Whisler, T.L., "Management in the 1990s," Harvard
Business Review, (November-December 1958), 41-48.
[9] Malone, T.W. & Crowston, K., "Toward an Interdisciplinary Theory of
Coordination," Technical Report 120, Center for Coordination Science,
MIT, 1991.
[10] Malone, T.W. & Smith, S.A., "Tradeoffs in Designing Organizations:
Implications for New Forms of Human Organizations and Computer
Systems," Working Paper 112, Center for Information Systems
Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March 1984.
[11] Mintzberg, H., The Structuring of Organizations, Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall, 1979.
[12] Ramstrom, D.O., "Toward the Information-Saturated Society," in
H.Leavitt, L. Pinfield & E. Webb (Eds.), Organizations of the Future:
Interaction with the External Environment, Praeger, New York, 1974,
159- 75.
[13] Samuel C. Certo Modern Management (9th Edition), Prentice Hall,
2002, ISBN: 0130670898.
[14] Sharlett Gillard and Jane Johansen, "Project management
communication: a systems approach", Journal of Information Science,
30 (1) 2004, pp. 23-29.
[15] Simon, H.A., "The Architecture of Complexity," in The Sciences of the
Artificial, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1968, 84- 118.
[16] Terreberry, S., "The Evolution of Organizational Environments,"
Administrative Science Quarterly, 12 (1968), 590- 613.
[17] The MathWorks products MATLABĀ®. Tom Peters, "Liberation
Management", Ballantine book 1992.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:57392", author = "Raied Salman and Nazar Younis", title = "Lessons to Management from the Control Loop Phenomenon", abstract = "In a none-super-competitive environment the concepts
of closed system, management control remains to be the dominant
guiding concept to management. The merits of closed loop have been
the sources of most of the management literature and culture for
many decades. It is a useful exercise to investigate and poke into the
dynamics of the control loop phenomenon and draws some lessons to
use for refining the practice of management. This paper examines the
multitude of lessons abstracted from the behavior of the Input /output
/feedback control loop model, which is the core of control theory.
There are numerous lessons that can be learned from the insights this
model would provide and how it parallels the management dynamics
of the organization. It is assumed that an organization is basically a
living system that interacts with the internal and external variables. A
viable control loop is the one that reacts to the variation in the
environment and provide or exert a corrective action. In managing
organizations this is reflected in organizational structure and
management control practices. This paper will report findings that
were a result of examining several abstract scenarios that are
exhibited in the design, operation, and dynamics of the control loop
and how they are projected on the functioning of the organization.
Valuable lessons are drawn in trying to find parallels and new
paradigms, and how the control theory science is reflected in the
design of the organizational structure and management practices. The
paper is structured in a logical and perceptive format. Further
research is needed to extend these findings.", keywords = "Management theory, control theory, feed back,input/output, strategy, change, information technology, informationsystems, IS, organizational environment, organizations, opensystems, closed systems.", volume = "1", number = "12", pages = "824-4", }