About this quiz
Control in management: process, types, techniques and coordination.
This Lok Sewa practice set has 50 multiple-choice questions (Subject: Public Management · For: Nayab Subba, Section Officer, Kharidar · Level: Medium). Take the quiz above first; after that, use the study list below to revise every question with its correct answer and a short explanation.
Study list: all 50 questions with answers and explanations
Control in management means:
- A) Making the plan
- B) Checking that work follows the plan and correcting deviations ✔
- C) Recruiting staff
- D) Giving leave
Why: Control means checking that work is done according to the plan and standards, and correcting it when it is not.
What is the first step in the control process?
- A) Corrective action
- B) Setting standards ✔
- C) Measuring performance
- D) Punishment
Why: The control process starts by setting standards. Then performance is measured, compared with the standards and corrected.
Comparing actual performance with standards helps find:
- A) Deviations ✔
- B) New staff
- C) Holidays
- D) Revenue heads
Why: Comparing actual results with standards shows the deviations (gaps) that need attention.
Control that checks inputs before work starts is:
- A) Feedback control
- B) Feed-forward (pre-) control ✔
- C) Post-control
- D) Political control
Why: Feed-forward (pre-) control checks inputs such as materials, staff and plans before work starts, to prevent problems.
Audit after the work is complete is an example of:
- A) Feedback (post-) control ✔
- B) Concurrent control
- C) Feed-forward control
- D) Self-control
Why: An audit after work is complete is feedback (post-) control: it looks at results and lessons after the event.
Supervision while work is in progress is:
- A) Concurrent (steering) control ✔
- B) Feedback control
- C) Budget control
- D) External control
Why: Supervision while work is going on is concurrent or steering control: problems are corrected as they happen.
Control of public administration by courts is called:
- A) Legislative control
- B) Judicial control ✔
- C) Popular control
- D) Executive control
Why: When courts review administrative actions, for example through writs, it is judicial control.
Approval of the budget by parliament is an example of:
- A) Legislative control ✔
- B) Judicial control
- C) Internal control
- D) Self-control
Why: Parliament approves the budget and questions ministers, so budget approval is legislative control.
Which constitutional body controls abuse of authority?
- A) CIAA ✔
- B) Election Commission
- C) National Planning Commission
- D) Public Service Commission
Why: The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) is the constitutional body that controls abuse of authority and corruption.
Media, civil society and public hearings are forms of:
- A) Popular (public) control ✔
- B) Judicial control
- C) Budget control
- D) Feed-forward control
Why: Media, civil society and public hearings let citizens watch and question government. These are popular (public) control.
Which is a modern control technique?
- A) PERT/CPM ✔
- B) Guesswork
- C) Rumour
- D) Ignoring reports
Why: PERT and CPM are modern techniques that plan and control project activities and timelines.
Checking spending against the approved budget is:
- A) Budgetary control ✔
- B) Judicial control
- C) Recruitment
- D) Coordination only
Why: Checking actual spending against the approved budget is budgetary control.
A good control system should mainly lead to:
- A) Fault-finding only
- B) Corrective action ✔
- C) More paperwork
- D) Delay
Why: The purpose of control is to correct problems and improve results, not only to find faults.
Which management thinker described control as checking whether everything happens according to plan?
- A) Henri Fayol ✔
- B) Karl Marx
- C) Abraham Maslow
- D) Adam Smith
Why: Fayol listed control as a management function and defined it this way.
Bringing the efforts of different units together towards common goals is:
- A) Control
- B) Coordination ✔
- C) Recruitment
- D) Audit
Why: Bringing the efforts of different units together towards common goals is coordination.
In Nepali, control is called:
- A) नियन्त्रण ✔
- B) समन्वय
- C) सञ्चार
- D) नेतृत्व
Why: Control is नियन्त्रण in Nepali. समन्वय means coordination.
In Nepali, coordination is called:
- A) समन्वय ✔
- B) नियन्त्रण
- C) योजना
- D) संगठन
Why: Coordination is समन्वय in Nepali.
Planning sets targets; control:
- A) Makes sure the targets are met ✔
- B) Replaces planning
- C) Has no link to planning
- D) Only punishes
Why: Planning sets the targets and control makes sure they are met. The two functions are closely linked.
Control is also forward-looking because it:
- A) Prevents future mistakes ✔
- B) Only punishes past errors
- C) Ignores the future
- D) Stops planning
Why: Control also looks forward: lessons from deviations help prevent the same mistakes in future.
Standards in control are set in terms of:
- A) Quantity, quality, time and cost ✔
- B) Weather only
- C) Political views
- D) Personal likes
Why: Standards are set in measurable terms of quantity, quality, time and cost.
Measuring actual performance is done through:
- A) Reports, inspection and data ✔
- B) Guesswork
- C) Rumours
- D) Horoscopes
Why: Actual performance is measured through reports, inspections, records and data.
Finding why the deviation happened is part of:
- A) Analysing deviations and their causes ✔
- B) Recruitment
- C) Budget speech
- D) Retirement
Why: After finding a deviation, the manager analyses why it happened before deciding what to correct.
Corrective action may include:
- A) Changing methods, retraining staff or revising plans ✔
- B) Ignoring the problem
- C) Hiding reports
- D) Closing the office permanently
Why: Corrective action may mean changing methods, retraining staff, moving resources or revising plans.
Control helps the best use of:
- A) Money, time and people ✔
- B) Only furniture
- C) Only buildings
- D) Only vehicles
Why: Good control helps use money, time and people in the best way.
Control in government protects:
- A) Public money and public trust ✔
- B) Corruption
- C) Delay
- D) Secrecy
Why: Control in government protects public money and public trust by preventing waste and misuse.
Control by the organisation itself, like supervision and internal audit, is:
- A) Internal control ✔
- B) External control
- C) Judicial control
- D) Popular control
Why: Supervision and internal audit by the organisation itself are internal control.
Control by parliament, courts, Auditor General and media is:
- A) External control ✔
- B) Internal control
- C) Self-control
- D) Feed-forward control
Why: Control by bodies outside the organisation, such as parliament, courts, the Auditor General and media, is external control.
Parliamentary committees and questions to ministers are examples of:
- A) Legislative control ✔
- B) Judicial control
- C) Popular control
- D) Internal audit
Why: Parliamentary committees and questions to ministers are tools of legislative control.
Ministers, the Cabinet and OPMCM supervising offices is:
- A) Executive control ✔
- B) Judicial control
- C) Popular control
- D) Legislative control
Why: Supervision of offices by ministers, the Cabinet and OPMCM is executive control.
Courts quashing illegal administrative decisions through writs is:
- A) Judicial control ✔
- B) Executive control
- C) Popular control
- D) Budget control
Why: Courts quashing illegal decisions through writs such as certiorari is judicial control.
Which constitutional body audits government accounts?
- A) Auditor General ✔
- B) Election Commission
- C) Public Service Commission
- D) NHRC
Why: The Auditor General is the constitutional body that audits government accounts (Article 241).
Right to Information is a tool of:
- A) Popular control ✔
- B) Military control
- C) Internal store control
- D) Judicial appointment
Why: The Right to Information lets citizens see government records, making it a tool of popular control.
Checking inputs before work starts prevents problems. This is:
- A) Feed-forward control ✔
- B) Feedback control
- C) Post control
- D) Final audit
Why: Checking inputs before work starts to prevent problems is feed-forward control.
Which control type is also called steering control?
- A) Concurrent control ✔
- B) Feedback control
- C) External control
- D) Legislative control
Why: Concurrent control is also called steering control, because it steers work while it is happening.
Monthly and annual progress reports are a control technique called:
- A) Reports and records ✔
- B) Recruitment
- C) Group dynamics
- D) Delegation
Why: Monthly and annual progress reports are a control technique called reports and records.
Inspection and supervision means:
- A) Visits and checks by seniors ✔
- B) Hiring staff
- C) Collecting taxes
- D) Making laws
Why: Inspection and supervision means seniors visit and check work directly.
Management by Objectives (MBO) controls by:
- A) Setting agreed objectives and measuring results ✔
- B) Ignoring results
- C) Random orders
- D) Only punishment
Why: Under MBO, managers and staff agree on objectives, then results are measured against them.
Performance contracts are a modern control tool that:
- A) Set targets officials agree to achieve ✔
- B) Remove all targets
- C) Are only for private firms
- D) Replace laws
Why: Performance contracts set targets that officials agree to achieve, and results are reviewed against them.
Gantt charts help control by:
- A) Showing planned versus actual timelines ✔
- B) Measuring weather
- C) Recording salaries
- D) Listing laws
Why: Gantt charts show planned and actual timelines side by side, so delays are easy to see.
Good control should be:
- A) Simple, timely and economical ✔
- B) Complex and costly
- C) Late
- D) Secret
Why: Good control should be simple, timely, economical, objective and lead to correction.
Focusing control on critical control points means:
- A) Watching the key points that matter most ✔
- B) Watching everything equally
- C) Ignoring key points
- D) Only checking attendance
Why: Critical control points are the key points that most affect results. Watching them saves effort.
Objective control means:
- A) Based on facts and standards, not personal feelings ✔
- B) Based on favouritism
- C) Based on rumours
- D) Without standards
Why: Objective control is based on facts and set standards, not on personal likes or favouritism.
Control that only finds faults without correction is:
- A) Ineffective ✔
- B) Ideal
- C) Required
- D) Modern
Why: Control that only finds faults but never corrects them does not improve results, so it is ineffective.
Coordination keeps the work of different units:
- A) In harmony ✔
- B) In conflict
- C) Separate always
- D) Secret
Why: Coordination keeps the work of different units in harmony so they support each other.
Both control and coordination need:
- A) Communication ✔
- B) Punishment
- C) Secrecy
- D) Delay
Why: Both control and coordination depend on good communication of goals, information and feedback.
Good coordination can reduce the need for:
- A) Strict control ✔
- B) Planning
- C) Goals
- D) Communication
Why: When units coordinate well, fewer problems arise, so less strict control is needed.
Control is the last function in Fayol's list after planning, organising, commanding and:
- A) Coordinating ✔
- B) Budgeting
- C) Reporting
- D) Staffing
Why: Fayol's functions are planning, organising, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Control comes last.
The CIAA mainly controls:
- A) Abuse of authority and corruption by public officials ✔
- B) Weather
- C) Exports
- D) School exams
Why: The CIAA investigates abuse of authority and corruption by public officials.
Spending beyond the approved budget is detected through:
- A) Budgetary control ✔
- B) Group dynamics
- C) Status system
- D) Leave records
Why: Budgetary control compares spending with the approved budget and detects overspending.
Media reporting on government work is a form of:
- A) Popular (public) control ✔
- B) Judicial control
- C) Internal control
- D) Feed-forward control
Why: Media reports on government work let the public watch and judge it. This is popular control.