Ajax Programming does freelance programming jobs, including blog and website design, for a wide variety of businesses and individual consumers. The company has grown from a simple start-up with only its two founders, Jim and Kenny Phillips, to a firm of more than 20 full-time employees. Recently it has noticed that the profitability of jobs is falling o and that individual customers are beginning to complain about the attitudes of the firm’s employees. To date, Ajax has used no type of control outside of trusting its employees to do the right thing. Now, however, it looks like it needs help if it is to get the business back on track.

REQUIRED:

a. What type of measurement is the company relying on right now to run the business?

b. Can you develop several action controls that might help the company out?

c. On the other hand, results measures might be more useful. Can you suggest two or three potential results measures?

d. Is it a foregone conclusion that the bigger a firm gets, the more it needs results controls? Why or why not?

e. What would you recommend to Jim and Kenny as they ponder the next wave of growth in their business? Please draft a one- to two- paragraph memo to Jim and Kenny with your recommendations.