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The Contribution of the Cybernetic Approach to Management Control

In: New Perspectives in Management Control

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  • Michael A. P. Willmer

Abstract

The term ‘control’ with respect to the management of organisations has many shades and nuances and these have been thoroughly explored in other chapters in this book. Otley and Berry (1980) explore the applicability of a cybernetic model of control to human systems and they suggest that the following four conditions have to be satisfied before any process can be said to be controlled in the cybernetic sense: 1. the system under consideration must have an objective 2. it must be possible to measure the results in terms of the dimensions defined by the objective 3. a predictive model of the system must exist 4. there must be relevant alternative actions available to the controller When applied to physical systems it has often been found that the cybernetic approach has enabled highly sophisticated control mechanisms to be developed. Without such mechanisms many military weapons would lose much of their effectiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael A. P. Willmer, 1983. "The Contribution of the Cybernetic Approach to Management Control," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Tony Lowe & John L. J. Machin (ed.), New Perspectives in Management Control, chapter 13, pages 240-267, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-349-17198-9_13
    DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-17198-9_13
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