In the past, internal control functions were limited and assigned to internal auditors and internal accounting managers. Today, the concerns of the concept have been generalised and more attention paid by senior management to make sure that the appropriate internal control systems are put in place and well monitored for the sustainability of the company operations.
Internal control mechanisms are essential in improvement of the organisation's performance and facilitate the quicker responses in time of adequate change when needed.
Corporate businesses worldwide have witnessed multimillion scandals as a result of inefficiency in their respective internal control systems.
Many authors and authorities have defined the concept of internal control in different ways. One of the widely accepted meanings of internal control is according to COSO "Committee of sponsoring organisations of trade way commission", they state that Internal control is one of the main tools used to curb the risks associated with unwanted business acts. They further assert that, internal control is broadly defined as a process effected by an entity's board of directors, management and personnel designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the organisation's objectives in deferent categories namely; Operational effectiveness and efficiency, Financial reporting reliability and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
(WWW.coso.org )
From the above definition, it is evident that internal control involves a number of checks and controls exercised in an organisation to ensure vigilance and direction over important matters like budget and finance, purchase and sales and internal administration.
Internal control systems include all the measures adopted by an organisation to fulfil the following objectives;
To avoid waste, inefficiency and fraud and to keep intact the company resources.
To attain highest level of accuracy and capacity in maintaining of the company accounts and operations data.
To encourage and measure the implementation of the organisation's policy
To evaluate performance efficiency in all aspects of the company activities and aid in organisational management planning
EWSA Rwanda
As the proposed research case study, EWSA is a company that is entrusted with the distribution of power, water and sanitation facilities in Rwanda. As a national utility, EWSA has been in existence since 1976 as ELECTROGAZ. The company was founded as REGISDESO in 1939 by the colonial masters to supply water, electricity and gas to Rwanda - Urundi of the then era with its headquarters in Bujumbura. REGISDESO was later in 1963 divided into Electrogaz for Rwanda and Regideso Burundi.
Electrogaz was granted the monopoly for the production and distribution of water and electricity in the country. After 1994 genocide, the country's urban settlement increased which led to an increase on the demand of water, electricity and sanitation respectively. The installed water and electricity supply facilities in place by then could not sustain the demand and thus a call for an enlarged investment in the infrastructures and other facilities.
The company since then has gone through a number of restructurings. In 1999, a law was passed putting an end to electrogaz'z monopoly on electricity and water supply hence opening doors for independent power producers and suppliers to engage in the market in year 2003. Electrogaz was then put under a management contact for 5 year with Lahmayer international for restructuring and managing its systems but the contract lasted for only two years and reverted to the government of Rwanda due to Lahmayer's failure to comply with the contract requirements and expectations. Later the company's board was assigned to appoint a new management and restructure the company systems to meet market demand.
In 2010, electrogaz was sprit into RECO (Rwanda Electricity Corporation) and Rwasco (Rwanda water and Sanitation Corporation), the sprit did not last for long as later in the ends of year 2011 the company was again merged and give the name EWSA (Energy, water and sanitation authority).
EWASA Service
Electricity: The Company provides electricity by means of thermal and hydroelectric power.
Hydropower is basically produced by means of water dams turning turbines which in turn produce electricity and is the primary source for Rwanda electricity production.
Thermal power is produced by the means of fuel, heavy fuel and methane gas. The thermal power plants were installed as an alternative to the hydroelectric plants that were not producing enough in regard to the market demand
The country's electrification rate is estimated at 16% with 350,000 connections nationwide.
WATER
EWSA provides water to Kigali city and urban centres of Rwanda. Natural springs and some other government projects supply the rural areas with the required water. The water supplied by EWSA is treated according to the international standards, in order to meet the standards, specific water purification steps are taken including; physical and chemical treatments and laboratory analysis to ensure quality.
(www.ewsa.rw )
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Internal control systems are tools designed to bring about efficiency in an organisation. These systems involve both the employers and employs of the organisation.
According to EWSA history, in the last 17 years after the genocide of 1994 the company has changed management several times due to inefficiency in operations and functionality of the assigned teams, the inefficiency being caused by failure to meet the demands of the company's growing market. The research therefore will be looking at investigating what internal control systems are in EWSA and how effective can they be operated to meet the company objective
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
A number of questions will be asked during the study, but most importantly the following questions will be more considered for effective recommendations from the study;
What are the internal control systems present in EWSA today?
How effective are these systems?
What can be done to improve on the effectiveness of these systems?
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
General objective
The general objective of the study is to investigate EWSA's internal control systems and their respective effectiveness on the performance of the company
Specific objectives
To investigate the company's internal control systems in use
To analyse the effectiveness of each control system
To investigate the contribution of these internal control system to the effectiveness of EWSA's operations
To provide recommendations on what should be done to improve on the efficiency of the company's internal control system and performance
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This will include methods, techniques and general approaches that will be used to obtain the necessary data to achieve the stated objective;
Research design
This research will be both retrospective where literature review is concerned and evocative revise will be used to acquire knowledge on the subject matter
METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
Primary data: This will involve the use of well designed questionnaires which will be addressed to officials of EWSA and service uses to analyse how effective is the company's service provision.
Secondary data: This will involve the use of information from EWSA website; journals related to the subject, different reports from the government of Rwanda, world bank and other international organisations that are somehow related to the subject, books from different others on the subject and other internet search engines.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The research will identify EWSA's internal system, it will further provide a clear view of the organisations operations and its status at market place for a relevant decision making
The research will analyse EWSA's strength and weaknesses and asses their causes
The research will then provide recommendation on how EWSA's internal systems can be improved in order to achieve the company's objectives and goals.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study will encompassed all the ideas concerning internal control systems in relation to EWSA's performance, It will be carried out in Rwanda energy, water and sanitation authority located in the country's capital Kigali for easy access to information and probably effective application of recommendations to curb the problems in the company's operations. The research will be further be carried out on websites, books, journals and reports for accuracy of information, the research will however be conducted according to time and resources constraints
LITERATURE REVIEW
This will be presented in sub themes of ; definitions of key terms, means of achieving internal control, features of good internal control
This chapter is presented in sub themes of: Definition of key terms, means of achieving internal control, Features of good internal control, Alternative methods of appraising internal control, the essence of control and regulating, the essence of causing things to happen in accordance with a particular plan or objective.
Examples range from a child's control of a pull toy to such relatively complex matter as piloting a jet airliner or controlling the operation of a nuclear power generating station.
In controlling an organization, managers strive for the most effective and efficient techniques to control the various activities for which they are responsible, so as to attain such objectives as profit maximization, cost minimization, quality maintenance, and production quotas.
Howard .F. Stettler (1982:134)
He further mentioned steps in controlling organizational activities and these include:
Organizing, planning, and making the decisions implicit in the development of a plan.
Authorizing action to implement plans that have been agreed upon.
Maintaining custody and control over usage of resources acquired in accordance with the plan.
Designing and operating an information system to accurately record, summarize, and report on all activities in order to provide necessary feedback on the results accomplished.
Taking such a corrective action may be prompted by feedback on past action and results.
DEFINITIONS OF KEY CONCEPTS
DEFINITIONS AND UNDERSTANDING OF INTERNAL CONTROL
Howard F. Stettler (1977:54) stated that "Internal control comprises of the organization plan and all of the coordinate methods and measures adopted within a business to safeguard its assets, check the accuracy and reliability of its accounting data, promote operational efficiency, and encourage adherence to prescribed managerial policies".
According to this definition, internal control is the means by which management obtains the information, protection, and control for successful operation of a business enterprise.
According to Thompson, Strickland and Hermanson et al. (1987:269) they define the internal control system as the: "plan of Organization and all the procedures and actions taken by an entity to:
Protect its assets against theft and waste
Ensure compliance with company policies and federal law
Evaluate the performance of all personnel in the company so as to promote efficiency of operations.
Ensure accurate and reliable operating data and accounting reports".
Thus preventing theft and waste is only a part of internal control.
In general terms, the purpose of internal control is to ensure efficient operations of a business thus making it possible for the business to effectively reach its goals.
Internal control is defined as a process, affected by an entity's board of directors/trustees, management and other personnel, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of organisational objectives in the following categories:
Effectiveness and efficiency of operations
Reliability of financial reporting
Compliance with laws and regulations
This definition reflects certain fundamental concepts:
Internal control can be expected to provide only reasonable assurance, not absolute assurance, to an entity's management and board.
Internal control is geared to the achievement of objectives in one or more separate but overlapping categories.
Internal control comprises five interrelated components namely; control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication and monitoring.
These five components are explained below
Control environment
The core of any business is its people and their individual attributes, including integrity, ethical, values and competence in which they operate. They are the engine that drives the entity and the foundation on which everything rests.
Risk assessment
The entity must be aware of and deal with the risks it faces. It must set objectives, integrated with revenues, production, marketing, financial and other activities so that the organization is operating in concert. It also must establish mechanism to identify, analyze and manage the related risks.
Control activities:
Control policies and procedures must be established and executed to help ensure that the actions identified by management as necessary to address risks to achievements of the entity's objectives are effectively carried out. Policies and procedures should be reviewed on a periodic basis.
Information and communication:
Surrounding these activities are information and communication systems. These enable the entity's people to capture and exchange the information needed to conduct, manage and control its operations.
Monitoring:
The entire process must be monitored, and modifications made as necessary. In this way, the system can react dynamically, changing as conditions warrant
(www.tufts.edu accessed on 22/September 2010).
INTERNAL CONTROL STRUCTURE
According to Hanson, Hamre and Walgenbach (1993:254), a firm's internal control structure is defined as the policies and procedures established to provide reasonable assurance that the specific entity objectives will be achieved.
The control procedures of particular concern to the accountant are those that help to:
Produce accurate and reliable financial data about the firm and
Safeguard the firm's assets.
We use the term accounting controls to refer to the policies and procedures designed to promote achievement of these two objectives.
FEATURES OF AN ACCOUNTING CONTROL SYSTEM
According to Hanson Hamre, and Walgenbach (1993:254), good internal accounting control includes the following requirements:
Competent personnel
Assignment of responsibility
Division of work
Adequate records and equipment
Notation of personnel
Internal auditing
These requirements are explained below;
Competent personnel
Accounting controls may interrelate with controls in other areas. For example, hiring procedures used to identify competent accounting personnel may also be used to hire capable employees for other areas in the firm.
Employees should be carefully selected and their talents used intelligently in the operation of the accounting information system.
Each person should thoroughly understand his or her function and its relationship to other function in the system. Above all, an employee must realize the importance of following the procedures prescribed by management and should be in support with the system. A well-formulated system of internal control can be destroyed by employees' lack of confidence or cooperation.
Assignment of responsibility
The plan of the organization should fix responsibility for functions and confer the authority necessary to perform them.
Responsibility and authority for a given function should not be shared, because this may result in duplication of effort and in jobs going undone if individuals think that another is performing the assignment. When one person is responsible for staying within budgeting amounts for labour costs, he or she should be given the authority to assign personnel to jobs, control overtime, and so on
Division of work
Division of work is one of the most important of the facts of a good system of controls.
The duties of individuals should be defined so that no single individual has complete control over a sequence of related transactions.
For example, the person handling bank deposits and the person keeping the cashbooks should not receive bank statements or make bank reconciliation.
Improper division of work, or segregation of duties, increases the possibility of fraud, carelessness, and unreliable record keeping.
With a proper division of duties, the work of one person or group can act as a check on work performed by another person or group.
For example, when different individuals process purchase orders and receiving reports, a third person can compare the order, receiving report and vendor's invoice before approving payment. This practice reduces the likelihood of errors from carelessness as well as the possibility of fictitious purchases or fraudulent conversion of goods.
Work division is valuable not only in preventing errors and grand, but also in providing the advantages of specialization-better performance and easier employee training.
Adequate records and equipment
According to Hanson Hamre and Walgenbach (1993:256), adequate records are important not only in accounting for a company's resources but also in providing management with accurate and reliable information.
One of the most important features in a satisfactory records-keeping system is a comprehensive chart of accounts that classifies information in a manner best suited to management's needs.
Control accounts and subsidiary records should be used when appropriate, so that work can be subdivided, and cross-checks may be made when the two types of accounts are reconciled. Control and subsidiary accounts can be used for such areas as accounts and notes payables, plant assets, and the major expense classifications of selling expense and administrative expense.
The forms used with the accounting records should promote accuracy and efficiency. If possible, individual forms should be pre-numbered so that the sequence of forms used can be accounted for. Moreover, pre-numbering helps a firm trace its transactions and reduce the possibility of failing to record a transaction.
For example, suppose a firm issue pre-numbered sales slips for each sale. A check of the number sequence would disclose any diversion of sales proceeds accomplished by destruction of the sales slip.
Likewise, accounting for the sequence of pre-numbered checks can detect whether unrecorded checks have been issued for unauthorized purchases.
Rotation of personnel
According to Hanson, Hamre and Walgenbach (1993:257), some companies rotate the positions of certain operating personnel.
For example, accounts a receivable clerk each responsible for a certain alphabetical segments. This procedure may disclose errors and irregularities caused by carelessness and dishonesty on the part of employees.
Misappropriation of funds especially in financial institutions such as banks has often been discovered during an employee's absence, when the perpetrator could no longer control or manipulate records.
Internal Auditing
According to Hanson, Hamre and Walgenbach (1993:257), an important feature of the internal control structure of large companies is the internal audit function.
The internal auditing department independently appraises the firm's financial and operational activities. In addition to reviewing activities for errors and irregularities, the internal audit staffs determines whether prescribed policies and procedures are being followed and attempts to uncover wasteful and inefficient situations.
Internal auditing is a staff, or advisory, a function that consists of reviewing activities and making written recommendations to management. To be effective, the internal audit staff must be independent of operating (line) functions and should report to a high-ranking executive or to the firm's board of directors.
CHANGING CONCEPTS OF INTERNAL CONTROL
According to Walter B. Meigs (1969:95), internal control is far more comprehensive in scope than the "internal check" of a generation ago.
The most common usage of the term "internal check" Was to describe the practices followed within the accounting and finance divisions of a concern for the dual purposes of minimizing clerical errors and protecting assets, particularly cash, from loss or theft.
Although the protection of cash is unquestionably an important function of the system of internal control, this is only one of several important objectives.
Internal control extends beyond accounting and financial functions, its scope is companywide and embraces such as auditing, statistical analyses, quality control and production scheduling. We may say that internal control in present day usage embraces all departments and affects all activities of business concern.
It includes the methods by which top management delegates' authority and assigns responsibility for such functions as selling, purchasing, accounting, and production.
PURPOSE OF INTERNAL CONTROL
According to Thompson, Strickland and Hermanson (1987:269), the basic purpose of internal control is to promote the efficient operation of an organization. The system of internal control consists of all measures employed by an organization to;
Safeguard assets from wastes, fraud, and inefficient use
Promote accuracy and reliability in the accounting records
Encourage and measure compliance with company policies and
Evaluate the efficiency of operations.
Protection of assents
This can be done by;
Separation of employee function and
Rotation of employee job assignments
Separation of employee fonctions
If a work is assigned to a specific person, that person is accountable for that task, as such he/she can be quickly identified. It is easy to trace lost documents or determine how a particular transaction is recorded when employees are given specific duties. Division of responsibilities gives sense of pride and importance hence the person's responsible want to perform to the best of their ability.
Rotation of employees' job assignments
If jobs are being rotated among employees it discourages employees from long-term schemes to steal. Employees realize that if they steal from the company, the next employee assigned position may discover the theft. If employees are given annual vacation, many dishonest schemes collapse when the employee does not attend to the job on a daily basis.
EVALUATION OF PERSONNEL PERFORMANCE
To evaluate how well company employees are doing their jobs, many companies use internal auditing.
Internal Auditing consists of investigating and evaluating employee's compliance with the company's policies and procedures.
For this purpose companies hire internal auditors who are trained in internal auditing company policies and their duties. Role of internal auditors: they should encourage operating efficiency throughout the company and can be constantly alert for breakdowns in the company's system of internal control. They make recommendations for the improvement of company's internal control system whenever necessary.
OBJECTIVES OF INTERNAL CONTROL
The main objectives of internal control are:
To ensure all transactions are authorized such as collection and management of cash is accomplished only when properly authorized and controlled. For example all user fees in a golf club should be tracked and accounted for on numbered receipts.
To ensure all documentation and accountability for assets are in conformity with local and national laws; and procedural requirements. For example the use of only authorized forms and completed in accordance with known laws and regulations.
Ensure accuracy and efficiency of organization's employees performance in its operations
LIMITATION OF INTERNAL CONTROL
A fundamental concept underlying the definition of internal control is that an internal control structure provides only reasonable assurance that agency objectives will be achieved. Limitations are inherent in all internal control systems.
These result from poor judgment in decision-making, management's ability to override controls and consideration of costs and benefits relative to internal control.
No matter how well internal control operates, some events and conditions are beyond management's control.
The internal control limitations above are explained as follows;
Judgment mistakes:
Effective internal control may be limited by the realities of human judgment. Decisions are often made within a limited time frame, without the benefit of complete information, and under time pressures of conducting agency business.
These judgment decisions may affect achievement of objectives, with or without good internal control. Internal control may become ineffective when management fails to minimize the occurrence of errors (e.g., misunderstanding instructions, carelessness, distractions, carelessness, distraction, fatigue, or mistakes).
Management override:
Management may override or disregard prescribed policies, procedures, and controls for improper (e.g., to enhance presentation of their agency's financial or compliance status).
Override practices include misrepresentations to state officials, staff from the central agencies, auditors, or others. Management override must not be confused with management intervention (i.e., the departure from prescribed policies and procedures for legitimate purposes). Intervention may be required in order to process non-standard transactions that otherwise would be handled inappropriately by the internal control system.
A provision for intervention is needed in all internal control systems since no system anticipates every condition.
Cost versus Benefits:
The cost of internal control must not exceed benefits to be derived. Potential loss, associated with exposure, should be weighed against the cost to control it. Although the cost-benefit relationship is a primary criterion to be considered in designing internal control, the precise measurement of costs is generally not possible.
The challenge is to find a balance between excessive control (Which is costly and counterproductive) and too little control. (http://www.intosai.org September, 2010)
THE NEED FOR INTERNAL CONTROL
According to Meigs Walter B.Larsen E. John (1985:174), the long-run trend for corporations to evolve into organizations of gigantic size and scope, including a great variety of specialized technical operations and employees numbered in tens of thousands, has made it impossible for corporate executives to exercise personal, firsthand supervision of operations.
No longer able to rely upon personal, observation as a means of appraising operating results and financial position, the corporate executive has, of necessity, come to depend upon a stream of accounting and statistical reports.
These reports summarize current happenings and conditions throughout the enterprise; the units of measurements employed are not only monetary units but also labor hours, material weights, customer calls, employee terminations, and a host of other denominators.
The information carried by this stream of reports enables management to control and direct the enterprise.
It keeps management informed as to whether company policy is being carried out, whether financial position is in sound and operations profitable and interdepartmental relations harmonious.
Decisions made by management become company policy. To be effective, this policy must be communicated throughout the company and consistently followed. Internal control aids in securing compliance with company policy. Management also has the direct responsibility of maintaining accounting records and producing financial statements that are adequate and reliable. Internal control provides assurance that this responsibility is being met.
MEANS OF ACHIEVING INTERNAL CONTROL
According to Meigs Walter B.Larsen E. John (1985:176), Systems of internal control vary significantly from one organization to the next.
The specific control features in any system depend upon such factors as the size, organizational structure, nature of operations, and objectives of the organization for which the system was designed. Yet certain factors are essential to satisfactory internal control in almost any large-scale organization, well-trained personnel.
Plan of organisation
An organization plan refers to the division of authority, responsibilities, and duties among members of an organization.
A well-designed organization plan is a first step to assure that transactions are executed in conformity with a company policy to enhance the efficiency of operation, to safeguard assets, and to promote the reliability of accounting data.
These objectives may achieve in large part through adequate separation of responsibilities for Initiation or approval of transactions, Custody asset and Record keeping
Internal control over transactions
According to Meigs Walter B. Larsen E. John (1985:176), a fundamental concept of accounting control is that no one Person or department should handle all aspects of a transaction from beginning to end.
If the management is to direct the activities of a business according to plan, every transaction should involve five steps; It should be authorized, initiated, approved, executed, and recorded. Accounting control will be enhanced if each of these steps is performed by relatively independent employees or departments.
No simple employee will then have incompatible duties that allow the employee to both perpetrate and conceal errors or irregularities in the normal course of a day's work.
Efficience of Operations
According to V.K Batra, KC Bagardia and Whittington (1985:178), a well-designed organization plan should enhance the efficiency of operations as well as contribute to internal accounting control. When two or more departments participate in every transaction, the work of one department is reviewed by another.
Also, each department has an incentive to demand efficient performance from the others.
Errors made by the receiving department in counting goods received will normally be brought to light by the accounting department when it compares the receiving report with the vendor's invoice and the purchase order. If defective materials are accepted by the receiving department, responsibility will be placed on the negligent department by personnel of the stores keeping or production departments, which must utilize the material in question.
Responsibilities of finance and accounting departments
According to Meigs Walter B. Larsen E. John (1985:180), finance and accounting are the two departments most directly involved in the financial affairs of a business enterprise.
The division of responsibilities between these departments illustrates the separation of the accounting function from operations and also from the custody of assets. Under the direction of the treasurer, the finance department is responsible for financial operations and custody of liquid Assets.
Activities of this department include planning future cash requirements, establishing customer credit policies, and arranging to meet the short and long-term financing needs of the business.
Sources of information for study of internal control
According to Meigs Walter B. Larsen E. John (1964:114), the appropriate sources of information in studying the system of internal control include the following:
Methods end procedures manuals describing the approved practices to be followed in all phases of operations.
Job descriptions, detailing the scope of activities and responsibilities for specific occupational classifications, such as billing clerk, cashier and so on.
Discussions with operating personnel. The auditor must, of course, maintain an attitude of professional dignity and integrity. He should not encourage employees to criticize supervisors, but may properly obtain valuable factual information concerning work being performed operating personnel of all classifications.
Reports, working papers, and auditing programs of the internal auditing staff. A critical review of the work done by integral auditors is a major step in the study of internal control by the independent auditor.
Personnel examination of accounting records, forms, documents, mechanical equipment, and all other media for recording transactions and processing operating and financial data.
Works papers, recommendation letters, and audits reports from examination to that of completion.
When the auditor is engaged, he of course utilizes all information concerning internal control contained in the stress the areas shown as having questionable controls in prior years.
It is imperative, however, that the auditor recognizes that the pattern of operations is an ever-changing one, that internal controls which were adequate last year may now be obsolete, and that the established use of a given control procedure is no assurance that it is currently being applied in an effective and intelligent manner.
DEFINITIONS AND UNDERSTANDING OF PERFORMANCE
Steers M.F (1991:1640) defines performance as the extent to which an individual can successfully accomplish a task or achieve a goal.
Performance as a concept includes not only the production of certain tangible units of output, but also of less tangible outputs, such as effectively supervising others, thinking in a creative way, inventing a new product, resolving a conflict between others or selling a good or a service.
This definition provides a clear understanding of what performance is, nonetheless, the idea of "ability" is not considered mentioned and yet, it should be well emphasized.
Thus, a comprehensive definition of performance should consider "performance as the extent to which an individual in his/her ability and within or outside the limits of a position can successfully accomplish a task or achieve a goal".
Tosi L.H. Rizzo, R.J and Carrol (1993:305), State that the performance is the result of the application of mental or physical effort. Performance levels can be stated in different ways in terms of quantity or quality and may reflect some subjective judgment by a manager; a particular level of performance may be judged as "high" for one person, but the same level may only "satisfactory" or perhaps "unsatisfactory" for another.
To Benton and Halloran (1991:68), performance is the end result of motivation, that performance is a function of ability and motivation.
It is necessary to have both the ability and motivation to perform. If either ability or motivation is low, performance will also be low and the reserve is true.
Establishing performance standards
According to Mosley, Pietrin and Meiggison (1996:497), a standard is a unit of measurement that can serve as a reference point for evaluating results. Standards are important for managers' needs to set clear objectives that channel their entire organization's efforts.
Accordingly, goals, objectives, quotas, and performance standards can be expressed in physical, monetary or time dimensions.
Quantifiable standards
Quantifiable standards are standards that can be expressed in terms of numbers (units, dollars, and hours). These quantifiable standards include:
Physical standards. These include; quantities of products, number of customers or clients, or qualify of products or services.
Monetary standards. These are expressed in dollars and include; labor costs, selling costs, materials-costs, sales revenues, gross profits.
Time standards. These include the speed with which jobs should be done or the deadlines by which they are to be completed.
Non quantifiable or qualitative standards
These, like quantitative standards play an important role. Some times subordinates and managers are not as much aware of the non-quantifiable standards, but these are still very important. Such standards include; living "qualified" personnel, promoting the "most proficient" person, having a cooperative attitude, and wearing appropriate dress on job, can be
Measuring performance
According to Mosley, Pietri, and Megginson (1996:488-499), setting standards is futile unless there is some way to measure actual performance while standards establish what will be measured and what level of performance is satisfactory, other important questions must also be answered. For example, how often is performance is measured, hourly, daily, weekly, annually? What form will the measurement take a phone call, a visual inspection, a written report? Who will be involved in, an operating employee, a supervisor, a middle-level manager, or the company? Other considerations in measuring performance are ensuring that the measurement is easy to do, relatively expensive, an easy to employees and others.
Among the many ways of measuring performance are;
Observation;
Reports both oral and written;
The use of automatic devices, and
Inspections, tests or samples.
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