1- Distinguish between strategic and operational controls and highlight the importance of each in the strategic management process. Strategic controls are intended to steer the company towards its long-term strategic direction. After a strategy is selected, it is implemented over time so as to guide a firm within a rapidly changing environment. Strategies are forward-looking, and based on management assumptions about numerous events that have not yet occurred. Traditional approaches to control seek to compare actual results against a standard. The work is done, the manager evaluates the work and uses the evaluation as input to control future efforts. While this approach is not useless, it is inappropriate as a means to control a strategy. Waiting until a strategy has been fully executed often involves five or more years, during which many changes occur, that have major ramifications for the ultimate success of the strategy. Consequently, traditional control concepts must be replaced in favour of strategic controls that recognise the unique control needs of long-term strategies. Strategic control is concerned with tracking the strategy as it is being implemented, detecting problems or changes in the assumptions and making the necessary adjustments. In contrast to post-action control, strategic control is concerned with controlling and guiding efforts on behalf of the strategy as action is taking place. Managers responsible for a strategy and its success are concerned with two sets of questions: 1. Are we moving in the proper direction? Are our assumptions about major trends and changes correct? Do we need to adjust this strategy? 2. How are we performing? Are we meeting objectives and schedules? How are costs, revenues and cash flows matching projections? Do we need to make operational changes? Strategic controls are designed to answer these questions. Control of strategy can be characterised as a form of "Steering Control". Usually, a significant time span exists between initial implementation of a strategy and achievement of desired results. During that time, numerous projects are undertaken, investments made, and actions preformed to implement the new strategy. In this duration. both the environmental situation and the firm's internal situation are developing. Strategic controls are necessary to steer the firm through these events. They must provide the basis for correcting the actions and directions of the firm in implementing its strategy as developments and changes in its environmental and internal situations take place. "Strategic control involves the monitoring and evaluation of plans, activities, and results with a view towards future action, providing a warning signal through diagnosis of data, and triggering appropriate interventions, either tactical adjustment or strategic reorientation." Thus, there are two aspects in strategic control evaluation of a strategic action and its results and taking necessary corrective actions in the light of this evaluation. Type # 1. Assumption Control: every strategy is founded on certain assumptions relating to environmental and organisational forces. Certainly some of these forces or factors are very sharp and any change in them is sure to affect the strategy to a great extent. Hence, assumption control is a must to identify the key postulations and keep track of any change in them in order to assess their impact on strategy and, therefore, its implementation. For example, these presumption may relate to changing government policies and market competition. Here, premise control serves to test continuously these assumptions to determine whether they are still valid or not. The responsibility for premise control is generally assigned to the corporate planning department that identifies the key assumptions and keep a regular check on their validity. Type # 2. Implementation Control: In order to implement a chosen strategy, there is a need for preparing quite a good number of plans, programs and projects. Resources are allocated for implementing these plans, programs, and projects. The purpose of implementation control is to evaluate as to whether these plans, programs and projects are actually guiding the organisation towards its pre-determined goals or not. Type # 3. Strategic Surveillance: If the assumption and implementation strategic controls are more specific by nature, strategic surveillance, is a more generalised and overriding control which is designed to monitor a broad range of events both inside and outside the organisation which are likely to threaten the very course of a firm's strategy. Such strategic surveillance can be done through a broad-based, general monitoring based on selected information sources to uncover events that are likely to affect the strategy of an organisation. Type # 4. Special Alert Control: This special alert control is based on a trigger mechanism for a rapid response and immediate reassessment of a given strategy in the light of a sudden and unexpected event. Special alert control can be exercised via the formulation of contingency strategies and assigning the responsibility of handling unforeseen events to crisis management teams. Operational Controls In an organization, control may be exercised at three stages of an action - (i) evaluation of inputs and taking corrective actions before a particular sequence of operation of an action is completed, known as feed forward control; (il) evaluation of the action and taking corrective actions during the operation of the action, known as concurrent, real-time, or steering control; and (ili) evaluation of results of the action taking corrective actions after the action is completed so that the same type of action produces desired results in future, known as feedback control. Traditionally, control has been based on feedback control, known as operational or management control. However, many management experts have questioned the efficacy of feedback control in the dynamic environment in which businesses operate. For strategic control, the following questions are relevant: 1. Are the assumptions made during the strategy formulation process proving to be correct? 2. Is the strategy being implemented properly? 3. Is there any need for change in the strategy? If yes, what is the type of change required to ensure strategic effectiveness? Operational control focuses on the results of strategic action and is aimed at evaluating the performance of the organization as whole, different BUs, and other units. The relevant questions for operational control are: 1. How is the organization performing? 2. Are the organizational resources being utilised properly? 3. What are the actions required to ensure the proper utilisation of resources in order to meet organizational objectives