Control System Design

Background

 

In the cosmetics company where I am employed, it has a range of products such as makeup, skincare, fragrances. The goal of the company is to create the future of beauty together. The company’s objectives are to increase competitiveness, reduce costs and improve customer support.

 

To increase competitiveness, the company keeps high standard of its products and services and invests on research and developments to produce new and better products. To reduce costs, the company learns from the mistakes and tries to eliminate possible errors so to save time and costs for rectification, and we also put efforts on its social media presence which is comparatively inexpensive to other promotional tools. To improve customer support, the company provides web-based customer technical support and web-based order tracking so to build long-lasting relationships with customers.

 

The company has various ongoing tasks including but not limited to:

1. Industry analysis: Research to understand the market we are operating and improve the marketing strategy accordingly.

2. Customer analysis: Detail the different customer segments we serve in our business plan to fulfill their demands.

3. Competitive analysis: Identify the indirect and direct competitors to find out what customers the competitors serve, their charges, their customer service, their strength and weakness and include in the strategic plan.

4. Marketing plan: Work on a marketing plan including Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

5. Operational plan: Support the business plan with daily tasks like answering inquiries, arranging supplies, stocking shelves, greeting customers, collecting payments etc.

6. Financial plan: Work on 5- and 10-years financial plan, and financial statements to provide guidance to achieve the company’s goals, mission and vision. 

Output Control System

 

My company implements the output control process to ensure our goals and objectives are met. We are following the features of output control system such as below:

1. Ensuring the production process follows the predetermined standards to attain the desired output

My company continuously evaluates and ensures that all products meet the highest standard of quality following relevant laws and regulations, and our own quality standard like the use of effective natural raw materials in products and cleanliness of factory and machines etc. to maintain customer loyalty, avoid negative feedback from consumers and take preventive measure to overcome potential problems.

2. Knowing the activities of the company  

We monitor and measure different productions like utilization of machines and work processes. We must know what we sell and how customers will react to it by doing customer analysis, and whether customers will accept our products when they come off the production line. All of these will allow my company to make more profits and create long-lasting relationships with customers when they use our products.

3. Finding out the corrective action with minimum effort, cost, and time

If performance is not up to standard, corrective and follow-up actions or efforts (e.g. fixing the wrong information stated on the cosmetics packaging, delay in delivery, incorrect shipment etc.) are needed before any harm or damage is made to the company’s benefits or reputation including losing customers. Moreover, we need to learn from any mistakes and take preventive action for the future.

Behaviour Control System

Behavioral control system gives attention to activities carried out by people and controls the action leading to the desired result. There are standard rules and procedures for behavioral control.

Apart from the output control system, my company also implements behaviour control system to achieve goals and objectives. For example:

1. We have signs posted in our factory reminding employees that they must wash their hands before returning to work

2. The employees must have their masks on when touching raw materials, putting them into machines, filling ingredients into jars and tubes and doing packaging

3. A strict dress code is enforced when entering or working in the closed area with ingredients and raw materials.

Clan Control System

Clan control system is however not suitable for my company’s goals, tasks, and objectives because it is about:

1. Values, traditions, and expectations that give their best to the company. It is used heavily in companies where creativity is vital, output is tough to dictate, and many rules are not appropriate.

--- Comparatively speaking, my company is not that creative like Google, high-tech businesses which require creative patents or research scientists etc.

2. Beliefs and values that conduct like a family more than a company. 

--- My company is neither a small company nor a family-owned company. It is a medium-size company with a reasonably complex organizational structure with clear roles and authority for reach team member, so our company does not conduct beliefs and values like running by  family members.

3. Leadership relies on shared cultural values as a manipulative tool to influence the behaviors of employees. For instance, leaders may reject employee's input in a decision-making situation as they are obedience to authority.

--- My company heavily relies on research, various analysis on customers and markets, financials etc. to make decisions. Decisions are made based on facts instead of personal influence.

Conclusion

My company heavily relies on the output control and behaviour control to be successful.

Output control involves measurable results and is used to maintain the quality of our products or services. This is done by setting standards for production and enforcing them. This system will help ensure that we provide high-quality products and services whereas the behavioral control involves regulating activities rather than outcomes.

It might sound easy to execute both output control and behaviour control, but only if every team member is meeting the standard. It requires each of us to understand his/her role, so to push together towards the same goals, objectives and complete the tasks successfully.