Abstract:

Circumstances of the market economy have increased the importance of new tools of management, especially controlling, that are necessary to implement in most, if not all, organizations. The use of controlling systems by European enterprises has given them a competitive advantage in their respective markets. At the same time, a lack of controlling has led to a wide gap between Polish enterprises and other European enterprises that have used controlling systems with success. There are many definitions and concepts of what controlling is and what it entails. This study aims to (1) analyze the manifestation and the definition of controlling in the literature and practice as well as to (2) answer the question: What is the current state of controlling practices in Polish companies? Based on a review of literature and the research, controlling may be defined as a tool of management that enables managers to steer a company based on continuous monitoring of company metrics and results, that is aligned with the company objectives through a coordinated management system, and that bridges planning and supervisory functions with information-sharing systems. The results of the research indicate weak implementation of controlling in companies operating in Poland. Over 85% of those surveyed claimed that they knew about controlling, but only 34.9% of them implemented it. Most that used controlling were large, foreign-capitalized companies with high revenues.