In dynamical systems terminology, it is not an ordering principle, but rather guides a system through its respective collective states (as defined by order parameters) in non-specific ways. Looked at another way, it is a boundary condition that acts as a constraint on the dynamics of the order parameter. When increased or scaled up beyond some critical value, it can transiently lose its constraining influence on the order parameter, which may then manifest stochastic or even chaotic behavior before making a sudden jump to another state. The important point about control parameters is they do not prescribe variations in the patterning of the order parameter in a strictly deterministic fashion. Instead, they control in only leading the order parameter unspecifically through regions of instabilities or keeping the system within a stable operating range.
See Bifurcation, Cause (or causal factor), Catastrophe theory, Chaos theory, Circular (or non-linear) causality, Constraint, Determinism, Developmental bootstrapping, Dynamical systems approaches, Mechanism, Non-linear dynamical systems, Order parameter, Phase transition (or shift), Quantitative and qualitative change, Stochasticity, Synergetics