Introducing the Controlling Effectiveness Model

Introduction presents controlling as a popular, although still ambiguous, method of management support. The perception of controlling assumed in the monograph was indicated, along with the concept of benefits, which may be obtained due to controlling implementation. Based on that, a research question was asked about conditions that must be satisfied in the organization in order for the controlling products to be of a high quality, enabling its influence on parameters concerning organization functioning. Moreover, the research gap was defined and the aims of the study were established. The main aim of the study is to indicate which aspects of the controlling functioning conditions are most crucial in the process of enabling the high quality and effectiveness of controlling and, based on that, the benefits obtained by the organization as a whole (according to the preliminary Controlling Effectiveness Model).

Based on the fact that it is not enough for an organization to simply implement controlling to ensure its effectiveness, the chapter discusses the concept of quality of controlling understood as the degree to which the set of the inherent properties of products of controlling meets the requirements of both the recipients of these products, and also controllers. At the same time, to verify the thesis that controlling impacts the resultant parameters of organization functioning—the organisational performance was adopted as a general result parameter, which is also a synthetic benefit of implementing controlling (with the obvious assumption that organizational performance is also influenced by factors other than controlling). The chapter also characterizes the preliminary Controlling Effectiveness Model, where the term of the effectiveness of controlling is understood as the strength of the influence of controlling on the organisational performance.

This chapter describes four groups of determinants influencing the functioning of controlling in organisation in accordance with the Controlling Effectiveness Model concept: referring directly to the work of controllers named controllers-orientated organisational determinants; referring to the work of managers and employees in the organization named workers-orientated organisational determinants; referring to the dynamic nature of controlling named the dynamic capabilities of controlling and referring to the employees’ dynamic capabilities. The elements included in each group of determinants were indicated. It was emphasized that each of the specified determinants affects controlling slightly differently, emphasizing, to a higher or lower degree, orientation at controllers or employees (controlling—workers orientation), emphasizing the static or dynamic dimension of impact (dynamic—static orientation). The chapter presents the Controlling Effectiveness Model with moderators and the influence of various determinants on quality of controlling.

The chapter presents the research methodology: the aim and the scope of the study are defined by presenting the various stages of the study, the sample description, variable characteristics, as well as descriptive statistics and reliability analysis of scales. The research results are presented based on those data. A basic research procedure was conducted based on questionnaire as a research tool. The empirical data was analysed by means of the description and statistical reasoning, using IBM SPSS and PS IMAGO AMOS software. The following statistical analyses were carried out: t-Student test for independent samples, Pearson’s non-parametric correlation, linear regression analysis, also with mediators and moderators (using bootstrapping method) and the path analysis. As a result, the chapter describes the use of controlling, determinants influencing its functioning, determinants influencing quality of controlling and determinants of the impact of controlling quality on the performance parameters of the organisation. Finally, the influence of determinants on the Controlling Effectiveness Model was analysed.

Conclusions refer to the obtained research results in the context of the research question presented in Introduction and the aim of the study. The obtained results allow to fill the research gap in management sciences indicated in the Introduction: four groups of controlling functioning determinants are indicated: controllers-orientated and workers-orientated determinants, the dynamic capabilities of controlling and employees dynamic capabilities, considering both, their static and dynamic nature. Therefore, the main aim of the study has been fulfilled. The chapter also indicates the limitation of the study, and defines the main directions of further research—in particular, when conducting research on effectiveness of controlling in the future, it is worth considering the factors connected with human resources—related not only to controllers, but managers and employees as well.