Introduction
To begin with, it should be emphasized that organizational control is one of the most important aspects of successful activity of any organization. The fact is that, Federal Government, as an organization, is not an exception, and requires particular managerial and control solutions for performing the proper control of the governmental activity. Taking into consideration the scales of Federal activity, large-scale tools are implemented for controlling the Governmental activity.
Bureaucratic Controls
Bureaucracy is originally aimed at spreading the authority of the government to the local levels of the administrative units. The fact is that, the structure of this authority is rather complicated, consequently, lots of misunderstandings and unforeseen events occur in the activity of bureaucratic mechanism. The main principle of its activity is the chain of commands, which are sent through the branches of the structure, and are addressed from the top to bottom, and chain of responses, which are the reactions for the commands sent from the upwards.
As for the matters of effectiveness, it should be emphasized that the main problem of any system is the preservation of the command chain with the simultaneous increase of flexibility and the ability for quick response of the allover system. Martin and Beckman (2005) emphasize the notion that this is possible only in business organizations and structures, while governmental bureaucracy is rather reluctant for the implementation of any changes. Originally, it is explained by the notion that governmental structures are not subjected to competition, and they are no concerned with the issues of staying on the market, consequently, these systems do not have the encouragement for the effective changes.
Financial Control
Financial control of the Federal Government activity is closely associated with the issues of budgeting. Originally these finances are allocated for maintaining the activity of bureaucratic mechanism, which requires constant and proper financial support for implementing the innovations, attracting new participants for working in this mechanism etc. In spite of the fact, that government allocates finances for the activity of governmental structures in administrative territories, it also requires incomes from outside, as Government is not a for-profit organization.
Anyway, financial controls place constraints on spending. The increased spending must be justified by increased revenues. Prowle and Morgan (2006) state the following notion:
“For departmental managers, staying within budget is typically one key measure of periodic performance reviews. The role of financial controls, then, is to increase overall profitability as well as to keep costs in line. To determine which costs are reasonable, some firms will benchmark other firms in the same industry. Such benchmarking, while not always an “apples-to-apples” comparison, provides at least some evidence to determine whether costs are in line with industry averages”
In the light of this statement, it should be emphasized that budgetary control of Federal Government activity is similar to budget control of any business organization, nevertheless, the scales of this control are lager due to the scales of Federal activity.
Conclusion
Finally, it should be emphasized that the bureaucratic and budget control of the Federal Government activity are the integral parts of any government. Originally, it is associated with the concept that bureaucracy spreads the governmental authority, and budget is aimed at maintenance this authority by maintaining the bureaucratic systems.
Reference
Martin, J., Knopoff, K., & Beckman, C. (2005). An Alternative to Bureaucratic Impersonality. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), 429
Prowle, M., & Morgan, E. (2006). Financial Management and Control. New York: Routledge.