Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Session - Foundations of Planning
Session - Foundations of Planning
6. I am clear about the measures that indicate when I have achieved a goal.
7. I work better when I set more challenging goals for myself. 8. I help other people clarify and define their goals.
Give yourself a point for each item you markes as Mostly true except items 3 & 4. A score of 5 or higher suggests a positive level of goal-setting behavior and good preparation for a new manager role in an organization. If you scored 4 or less you might want to evaluate and begin to change your goal-setting behavior.
Definition of Planning
Defining the organizations goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving these goals, and developing plans for organizational work activities.
Planning is concerned with ends (what is to be done) as well as with means (how it is to be done).
Plans
Documents that outline how goals are to be accomplished Describe how resources are to be allocated and establish activity schedules
Criticism to Planning
Planning may create rigidity. Plans cant be developed for a dynamic environment. Formal plans cant replace intuition and creativity. Planning focuses managers attention on todays competition, not on tomorrows survival. Formal planning reinforces success, which may lead to failure.
Goals
Desired outcomes Financial goals
Wider profit margins Higher returns on invested capital Rise in stock price Stable earnings Large market share High industry ranking Low costs related to customers Leader in technology and innovation
Strategic goals
Organizational Mission
A broad declaration of an organizations purpose that identifies the organizations products and customers and distinguishes the organization from its competitors. The mission statement is the reason the organization exists
Top of the goal hierarchy Describes the values, aspirations and reason for being A well-defined mission is the basis for all other goals
How about identifying/defining Mission, Vision and Values based on the reading?
Hierarchy of Goals
Strategy
The cluster of decisions and actions that managers take to help an organization reach its goals.
COMPANY America Online Dell eBay STRATEGIC PRINCIPLE Consumer connectivity firstanytime, anywhere Be direct Focus on trading communities
General Electric
Be number one or number two in every industry in which we compete, or get out
Meet customers short-haul travel needs at fares competitive with the cost of automobile travel
Southwest Airlines
Vanguard
Wal-Mart
Source: Arit Gadiesh and James Gilbert, Frontline Action, Harvard Business Review, May 2001, p. 74.
Operational Goals results expected from departments, work groups, and individuals
Lower levels of the organization Specific action steps
Example of GM
Strategic Goals
Increasing U.S. Market Share to 20 percent
Tactical Goals
Enhance reputation of GMs most important brand Chevrolet
Chevy
Operational Goals
Chevrolets marketing dept. might have an operational goal of increasing customer visits to showroom by 10 percent by year end Transportation dept. may have the goal of improving ontime delivery of cars and trucks to dealers by 20 percent
Goals should be consistent and mutually supportive The achievement of goals at low levels permits the attainment of highlevel goals Individuals, teams, and departments should be working in concert
Types of Plans
BREADTH OF USE
TIME FRAME
SPECIFICITY
FREQUENCY OF USE
Strategic Tactical
Directional Specific
Tactical plans
Apply to specific parts of the organization. Are derived from strategic objectives Specify the details of how the overall objectives are to be achieved. Cover shorter periods of time Must be updated continuously to meet current challenges
Specific plans
Plans that have clearly defined objectives and leave no room for misinterpretation
What, when, where, how much, and by whom (process-focus)
Standing plan
A plan that is ongoing and provides guidance for repeatedly performed actions in an organization
Programs: integrated plans achieving specific goals. Project: specific action plans to complete programs.
Policies are general guides to action. Rules are formal written specific guides to action.
plans affecting future commitments must be sufficiently long-term to meet the commitments
A Well-Designed Goal
Written in terms of outcomes rather than actions Measurable and quantifiable Clear time frame Optimally challenging Written down Clearly communicated
Levels of Planning
Corporate-Level Plan
Top managements decisions pertaining to the organizations mission, overall strategy, and structure. Provides a framework for all other planning.
Corporate-Level Strategy
A plan that indicates in which industries and national markets an organization intends to compete.
Levels of Planning
Business-Level Plan
Divisional managers decisions pertaining to divisions long-term goals, overall strategy, and structure.
Identifies
Business-Level Strategy
A plan that indicates how a division intends to compete against its rivals in an industry.
Shows
Levels of Planning
Functional-Level Plan
Functional managers decisions pertaining to the goals that they propose to pursue to help the division attain its business-level goals.
Functional Strategy
A plan that indicates how a functional department intends to achieve its goals.