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Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

CHAPTER 6
Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making
Part Three of this book is entitled PLANNING AND DECISION MAKING. Its fundamental purpose is
to discuss the first basic management function—planning and decision making.
Part Three has four chapters. Chapter 6 introduces the basic elements of planning and decision making.
Chapter 7 focuses on strategy and strategic planning. Chapter 8 addresses the management of decision
making. Entrepreneurship is the focus of Chapter 9.
Teaching Tip: Some instructors prefer to cover Chapter 9 separately at the end of the
course. If you prefer this method, Chapter 9 is written to be covered “out of sequence.”

CHAPTER SUMMARY
Chapter 6 is the first of four devoted to the planning process. Its purpose, therefore, is to introduce the
basic elements of this management function and to build a foundation for the more detailed coverage of
the material that follows in the remaining chapters of the part.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After covering this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Summarize the essential functions of decision making and the planning process.
2. Discuss the purpose of organizational goals, identify different kinds of goals, discuss who sets goals,
and describe how to manage multiple goals.
3. Identify different kinds of organizational plans, note the time frames for planning, discuss who
plans, and describe contingency planning.
4. Discuss how tactical plans are developed and executed.
5. Describe the basic types of operational plans used by organizations.
6. Identify the major barriers to goal setting and planning, how organizations overcome those barriers,
and how to use goals to implement plans.

MANAGEMENT IN ACTION
Cruise Control
The opening case discusses Carnival Cruise Lines’ dismal crisis management. Three separate accidents
show the regression of Carnival’s crisis management from merely adequate to its current state of
contradicting media and customer reports and finger pointing. Crisis management experts say companies
must execute their crisis management plan fast and effectively. Carnival does neither and continues to
flub up with each new accident.
Management Update: Micky Arison was replaced as CEO by Arnold Donald in June
2013. Donald served on the company’s board for 12 years. In July of 2015, Carnival
Corporation announced they are building two ships for their Costa Cruises in Italy. Each
ship can house 6,600 passengers and plans to operate starting in 2019. Currently, the
largest Carnival ships carry 3,600 passengers.

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Chapter 6: Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. DECISION MAKING AND THE PLANNING PROCESS

Teaching Tip: Stress for students that the planning process portrayed in Figure 7.1
reflects an orderly and logical sequence of steps. In reality, of course, the actual planning
process used in any given situation will likely reflect some variation in this process.
Decision making drives planning. Decisions underlie the establishment of organizational goals, for
example, and the formulation and implementation of all plans.
In order to plan effectively, managers must understand the environmental context in which the
organization exists. They must establish a mission that includes the organization’s purpose,
premises, values, and directions. Strategic goals and plans are devised from the mission statement;
tactical goals and plans are generated from the strategic goals and plans; and operational goals and
plans are devised from the tactical goals and plans.
Cross-Reference: Note for students that we are simply introducing decision making
here. Chapter 8 covers decision making more thoroughly.

II. ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS

A. Purposes of Goals
Goals serve four important purposes.
1. Goals provide guidance and a unified direction for people in the organization.
2. Goals promote good planning.
3. Goals motivate employees.
4. Goals provide an effective mechanism for evaluation and control.
Discussion Starter: Ask students to think about their own personal goals. Then ask them
to evaluate each of those goals in terms of the purpose it serves.
B. Kinds of Goals – goals vary by level, area, and time frame.
1. There are four basic levels of goals.
An organization’s mission is a statement of its fundamental, unique purpose that sets it
apart from other firms of the same type. The mission also identifies the scope of the
business’s operations in product and market terms.
Strategic goals are set by and for the top managers of the organization who focus on
broad, general issues.
Tactical goals are set by and for middle managers and focus on how to operationalize
actions necessary to achieve the strategic goals.
Operational goals are set by and for lower-level managers who focus on shorter-term
issues associated with the tactical goals.
2. Goals are set for different areas such as finance, marketing, or human resources.
3. Goals are set across different time frames (long-term, intermediate-term, and short-term).
The length of each time frame differs by level.
C. Responsibilities for Setting Goals
All managers should be involved, but each manager generally is responsible for setting goals
that correspond to his or her level in the organization.

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Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

Teaching Tip: Figure 6.2 illustrates the kinds of organizational goals that might be set
for a regional fast-food restaurant chain.

Group Exercise: After discussing the material titled “Kinds of Goals”, have students
construct a hypothetical hierarchy of goals like those in Figure 6.2 for different kinds of
organizations such as a retailer, a manufacturer, a college or university, and so forth.
D. Managing Multiple Goals
Goals set by different areas or at different levels may conflict. Optimizing involves balancing
and reconciling possible conflicts between goals.
Discussion Starter: Ask students to identify situations in which they have had to
optimize multiple goals. A very relevant example for students is the trade-off between
socializing and studying for a test or between studying for multiple tests during finals.

III. ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING

A. Kinds of Organizational Plans


1. Strategic plans—general plans that outline the decisions of resource allocation,
priorities, and action steps necessary to reach strategic goals, which are set by the board
of directors and top management and have an extended time frame.
Cross-Reference: Note that strategic plans are discussed in detail in Chapter 7.
2. Tactical plans—developed to implement specific parts of a strategic plan. Typically, a
tactical plan involves upper and middle managers and has a shorter time frame than the
strategic plan.
3. Operational plans—focus on carrying out the tactical plans in order to achieve
operational goals. Developed by middle and lower-level managers and have a short-term
focus.
B. Time Frames for Planning
1. Long-range plans cover many years and vary in length from organization to
organization. For our purposes, any plan that extends beyond five years is considered a
long-range plan.
2. Intermediate plans cover periods from one to five years and parallel tactical plans.
3. Short-range plans—have a time frame of one year or less and affect a manager’s day-to-
day activities.
An action plan serves to operationalize any other kind of plan.
A reaction plan is a plan designed to allow the company to react to an unforeseen
circumstance.
C. Responsibilities for Planning
1. Planning staff—The planning staff is a group of planning professionals who help reduce
the planning workload of individual managers, help coordinate the planning activities of
individual managers, and provide tools and techniques needed to solve problems. They
take a broader view than individual managers and go beyond particular departments.
Management Update: Planning staffs were once very popular and used by virtually all
large organizations. In recent years, however, many firms have cut back or eliminated
their planning staffs. This was done to save money and with the idea that operating
managers are really more qualified to develop plans. A few experts are still kept on staff,
however, to provide support and technical advice.

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Chapter 6: Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making

Management Update: As a corollary to the point noted above, planning task forces have
become more popular in recent years as firms have attempted to get their operating
managers more involved in planning.

Extra Example: Tenneco is an example of a firm that has taken this approach. While
Tenneco still has a planning staff, it is much smaller than it used to be. Its members
usually provide support for planning task forces composed of operating managers.
2. Planning task force—A planning task force is a group of line managers with a special
interest in the area of planning who are grouped together to address a particular issue.
Members of the planning staff also may be included in the task force.
Management Update: As the role of planning task forces has increased, so too has the
role of executive committees. These committees provide a natural analog to a planning
task force. That is, the executive committee can represent senior management, and a
planning task force can represent line management. The two groups can then work
together to effectively develop plans.
3. Board of directors—The board of directors establishes the corporate mission and
strategy.
4. Chief executive officer—The CEO plays a major role in the complete planning process
and is responsible for implementing the strategy.
5. Executive committee—The executive committee provides input to the CEO on the
proposals that affect their own units and reviews the various strategic plans that develop
from this input.
Extra Example: Again, this closely mirrors the approach used at Tenneco today. The
firm’s executive committee works with planning task forces, with the efforts of both
supported and assisted by a small planning staff.
6. Line management—Line managers are individuals with formal authority and
responsibility for the management of the organization. They provide valuable inside
information as plans are formulated and implemented, and they execute the plans
developed by top management.
D. Contingency Planning and Crisis Management
Contingency planning is the determination of alternative courses of action to be taken if an
intended plan of action is unexpectedly disrupted or rendered inappropriate.
Contingency planning usually involves various action points that are used to identify the need
to implement alternative plans.
Extra Example: Starbucks recently developed a contingency plan. Recent frosts in
Brazil drove up the price of coffee beans to the point that Starbucks increased its own
prices by 10 percent. It then developed a contingency plan for dealing with future pricing
alternatives. If the price of beans drops to previous levels, Starbucks will lower its own
prices back to previous levels as well. If bean prices remain high, however, Starbucks
will also keep its own prices high.

Discussion Starter: Ask students to recall examples of times when they have engaged in
contingency planning.
A closely related concept is crisis management—the set of procedures the organization uses
in the event of a disaster or other unexpected calamity.

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Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

IV. TACTICAL PLANNING

Tactical plans are an organized sequence of steps designed to execute strategic plans.
A. Developing Tactical Plans
Tactical plans must address a number of tactical goals derived from a broader strategic goal,
must deal with specific resource and time issues, and require the use of human resources.
B. Executing Tactical Plans
For proper execution of tactical plans, a manager must evaluate possible courses of action in
light of the goal, make sure each decision maker has the information and resources necessary
to get the job done, ensure vertical and horizontal communication to minimize conflicts and
inconsistent activities, and monitor ongoing activities derived from the plans to make sure the
desired end results are achieved.

V. OPERATIONAL PLANNING

A. Single-Use Plans
A single-use plan is developed to carry out a course of action that is not likely to be repeated
in the future.
1. Program—a single-use plan for a large set of activities
Extra Example: In 2009, Disney acquired Marvel Comics. The process of integrating
the two companies was a program.
2. Project—similar to a program, but generally of less scope and complexity
B. Standing Plans
A standing plan is used for activities that recur regularly over a period of time.
1. Policy—specify the organization’s general response to a designated problem or situation.
Discussion Starter: Give students several examples of policies at your college or
university, for example, the school’s policy regarding scholastic honesty or sexual
harassment. Ask the students to describe why that policy was developed. In the students’
opinion, is the policy adequately addressing the problem?
2. Standing operating procedure (SOP)—outlines the steps to be followed in particular
circumstances.
3. Rules and regulations—describe exactly how specific activities are to be carried out.
Interesting Quote: McDonald’s is famed for its SOPs and rules and regulations. To see
where this mentality comes from, consider this quote from Ray Kroc, founder of
McDonald’s: “The French Fry has become almost sacrosanct for me. Its preparation is a
ritual to be followed religiously.” (Fortune, July 3, 1989, 80.)

Discussion Starter: Ask students for examples of rules and regulations they have
encountered that they did not understand.

Group Exercise: Form students into small groups of four or five members each. Have
each group identify a rule or regulation. Then have them attempt to find out when and
why that rule or regulation was adopted, and how many exceptions are made to it.

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Chapter 6: Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making

VI. MANAGING GOAL-SETTING AND PLANNING PROCESSES

A. Barriers to Goal Setting and Planning


Cross-Reference: Note that Table 6.2 summarizes the barriers to effective goal setting
and planning and also lists the methods for overcoming those barriers.
1. Goals may be inappropriate if they are unattainable, if achieving them will mean a
setback in another area, and if they place too much emphasis on either quantitative or
qualitative measures of success.
Extra Example: Athletic departments are sometimes guilty of having inappropriate
goals. That is, they may put so much emphasis on winning that they break rules in order
to gain a competitive advantage.
2. Improper reward systems can act as a barrier to goal setting and planning.
Extra Example: Following from the boxed insert above, reward systems may also
encourage this behavior in athletic departments. That is, coaches may be rewarded only
for winning even though they may make other contributions and may be doing other parts
of their jobs well. Similarly, coaches have been fired for not winning, even though they
are performing the rest of their job effectively.
3. How quickly the organization’s environment changes (how dynamic and complex the
environment is) can be a barrier to effective goal setting.
4. Some managers are reluctant to establish goals for themselves and their units and act as a
barrier to effective planning.
5. People resist change, and because they do, they may become a barrier to goal setting and
planning.
Cross-Reference: Note that resistance to change is discussed more fully in Chapter 12.
6. Constraints or limits on what an organization can do or is allowed to do can act as a
barrier to goal setting and planning.

B. Overcoming the Barriers


1. Managers must recognize the purpose and limits of goal setting and planning.
2. People responsible for achieving the goals and implementing the plans should be
involved in the process from the beginning. Further, it is important to communicate to
everyone involved in the process the overriding organizational and functional strategies
and how they will be integrated.
3. Goals should be consistent horizontally, across the organization, and vertically, up and
down the organization. Goals and plans need to be revised and updated regularly.
4. People should be rewarded for establishing effective goals and plans and for successfully
achieving them.

C. Using Goals to Implement Plans


Formal goal setting, sometimes called management by objectives or MBO, is a widely used
method for managing the goal-setting and planning processes concurrently to make sure that
both are done effectively.
1. The purpose of formal goal setting is to give subordinates a voice in the goal-setting and
planning processes and to clarify for them exactly what they are expected to accomplish
in a given time span.

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Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

Discussion Starter: Have students ever worked under a formal goal-setting system?

Extra Example: Managers at Cypress Semiconductor use a comprehensive form of


MBO to guide virtually all performance. Each employee has dozens of goals, all of which
are stored and continually updated in a central computer network.
2. The process of formal goal setting must start at the top. Top managers must communicate
why they adopted the process, what it will accomplish, and that they are committed to it.
Employees must be educated about formal goal setting and it must be implemented in a
consistent manner. The process begins with collaborative goal setting between a manager
and a subordinate as the goals are clarified and written down. The resources needed to
achieve the goals are discussed and periodic reviews are held to ensure the subordinate is
on track in achieving the goals.
3. Formal goal setting can be effective in improving employee motivation, enhancing
communication, and making performance appraisals more objective. The process can be
ineffective if top management does not support it, if lower-level managers and
employees do not accept the goals of the organization, or if there is an overemphasis on
quantitative goals and plans.
Group Exercise: Have students develop a formal goal-setting system that could be used
in teaching a class such as this one.

END OF CHAPTER QUESTIONS

Questions for Review


1. Describe the nature of organizational goals. Be certain to include both the purposes and the
kinds of goals.
The four purposes of goals are to: (1) provide guidance and direction, (2) facilitate planning,
(3) serve as a source of motivation and inspiration, and (4) be used to evaluate and control.
Businesses that move aimlessly cannot survive in today’s economy. Goal development is essential
because it helps guide the planning process. When employees know and understand the direction
of the business, they are more motivated to accomplish the goals of the organization. Finally, the
goals can be monitored as a control device. There are several kinds of goals: organizational goals,
goals for different areas of the organization, and goals that span different time frames.
2. Describe the scope, responsible personnel, and time frames for each kind of organizational
plan. How are plans of different kinds related?
Strategic plans are long-range and broad plans that will impact the entire organization. They are
typically made by the board of directors and top managers. Tactical plans are mid-range plans with
somewhat less impact than strategic plans and are often made by upper and middle managers.
Operations plans are short-range and limited in scope and are made by middle and lower-level
managers.
3. Explain the various types of operational plans. Give a real or hypothetical business example
for each type. Do not use examples from the text.
A program is a single-use plan that directs a large set of activities, such as Wal-Mart’s acquisition
and integration of the British grocer, ASDA. A project is a single-use plan that is more limited in
scope than a program, such as GM’s project to update the design of its Saturn automobiles. A policy
is a standing plan that is stated very generally. Most universities, for example, have a policy

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Chapter 6: Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making

forbidding discrimination or harassment. A standard operating procedure is a standing plan that


describes the tasks that must be done under certain circumstances. The U.S. Navy uses SOPs to tell
its sailors how to maintain equipment, for example. Rules and regulations are the narrowest type of
standing plans and can substitute for decision-making. Many airlines have a rule, for example, that a
flight attendant must smile at each passenger who addresses him or her.
4. List the steps in the formal goal-setting process. What are some of the advantages for
companies that use this approach? What are some of the problems that may arise from use of
this approach?
Formal goal setting can increase employee motivation towards the accomplishment of specific
goals. It can also enhance communication and make decision making more objective. Formal goal
setting facilitates control too. Problems of formal goal setting include poor implementation, lack of
top management support, the burdensome paperwork that formal goal setting can encourage, and the
rigidity that can result.

Questions for Analysis


5. Managers are frequently criticized for focusing too much attention on the achievement of
short-term goals. In your opinion, how much attention should be given to long-term versus
short-term goals? In the event of a conflict, which should be given priority? Explain your
answers.
Clearly, managers must continually balance short-term and long-term interests. Too much attention
to one or the other can result in ineffectiveness. Students’ opinions will, of course, vary.
6. What types of plans and decisions most likely require board of director involvement, and
why? What types of decisions and plans are not appropriate for board involvement, and why?
Board should oversee any important strategic decisions, and they should also carefully supervise
financial and other types of reporting in order to assure ethical and legal behavior. They should
make decisions related to the CEO’s compensation and activities. In short, they should make any
decisions that the owners of the firm (the stockholders) feel needs oversight. Boards should not
become overly involved in every management decision, which would create difficulties for
managers. Nor should they counter-act every move by the CEO, but they should work to support
and help the CEO grow in his or her management ability.
7. Standing plans help make an organization more effective. However, they may inhibit
experimentation and organizational learning. Under what conditions, if any, should
organizations ignore their own standing plans? In the area of planning, how can an
organization balance the need for effectiveness against the need for creativity?
Standing plans should be abandoned if circumstances change radically, forcing the alteration. Firms
that are more interested in innovation than in efficiency should minimize their use of standing plans.
Managers are constantly balancing the need for creativity with the need for efficiency. One
approach that has met with success at many firms is the development of standing plans—but with a
built-in trigger for re-examination of the plans if circumstances warrant.

Questions for Application


8. Interview the head of the department in which your major exists. What kinds of goals exist for
the department and for the members of the department? Share your findings with the rest of
the class.

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Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

The students of many departments will find that there are generally goals in three areas: teaching,
research, and service. Discuss the three areas with the students and try to discover why one is given
more importance than the other two by a given department. It may be interesting to discuss the
inclusion of research because many students do not see the rationale for including or emphasizing
research as a goal of an academic department.
9. Tell about a time when an organization was not able to fully achieve all of its goals
simultaneously. Why did this occur? Is complete realization of all goals impossible for an
organization? Why or why not?
Students’ answers will vary, but here is one example: “At my workplace, we seek to hire
experienced personnel who will be able to offer great customer service, but our budget is limited, so
instead we usually hire entry-level workers, whose customer-service skills are weaker.” Other
reasons for the inability to achieve goals simultaneously might be related to a constraint in other
resources, such as insufficient labor, raw materials, or time. In theory, organizations should be able
to find creative ways to satisfy many or all goals simultaneously. In practice, organizations with
complex sets of stakeholders must try to assure that each group has at least some of its needs met
but is unlikely to be able to fully satisfy all groups.
10. From your library or the Internet, find information about a company’s mission statement and
goals. List its mission and some of its strategic, tactical, and operational goals. Explain the
relationship you see among the goals at different levels.
Answers will vary. For example, if students investigated the mission statement of the IRS, they
would find: “to provide America’s taxpayers with top quality service by helping them understand
and meet their tax responsibilities and by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.”
Among their strategic initiatives are the ability for all taxpayers to file their returns electronically. A
tactical plan that builds on that strategy is the development of relationships with third-party
providers of tax services, such as H&R Block. An operational plan that builds on that tactic is the
development of an IRS web site, which offers specific help and instructions online for every tax
form, to aid online filers. In general, students should find that the mission, strategy, tactics, and
operations build on plans at the previous level.

END OF CHAPTER EXERCISES

Building Effective Decision-Making Skills


I. Purpose
This exercise allows students to apply their decision-making skills to a specific business situation.
II. Format
This exercise calls for reading the case scenario and dividing the class into groups of three or four.
Each group will meet as a management team responsible for deciding the fate of the company’s
Smallville plant.
Teaching Tip: An optional approach would be to square off teams in a debate format
with one team representing management and the other an affected stakeholder group.
III. Follow-Up
A. Your instructor will divide the class into groups of three or four people each. Each group will
meet as a management team responsible for deciding the fate of the Smallville plant.
B. The team may decide to close the plant or keep it open, but the goal of the decision-making
process is twofold: (1) to keep the company viable and (2) to reflect the team’s individual and
group values.

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Chapter 6: Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making

C. If the team decides to close the plant, it must draw up a list of the factors on which it based its
decision and be prepared to justify it.
D. If the team decides to keep the plant open, it must draw up a plan explaining how the company
can still remain competitive.
The team has to keep cost as well as quality issues in mind. The Italian competitors are
currently beating them on both fronts.
E. Each member of each team should be prepared to explain the choices that he or she made in
helping the group reach its decision.

Building Effective Time Management Skills


I. Purpose
This exercise should aid students in learning about the complexity of priority setting within an
organization.
II. Format
This time-management skills exercise includes both individual and group components, and should
take about 15 minutes.
III. Follow-Up
A. Develop a schedule listing the sequence in which you need to meet with the eight parties that
you’ve listed above. Do the best that you can to minimize backtracking (seeing one party and
then having to see him or her again after seeing someone else).
B. Compare your schedule with that of a classmate and discuss the differences.
Students’ answers will vary for the above questions.
C. Do you find that it’s possible to draw up different schedules which are nevertheless equally
valid? If so, why? If not, why not?
Yes, students will be able to develop different schedules that meet the requirements. Some of
the steps are relatively independent of the others. For example, advertising design can begin
without interacting with the others. Therefore, students are free to place this task wherever
they feel it is most appropriate. Other tasks are interconnected. For example, the physical
layout of the store cannot be planned until a space has been leased.

MANAGEMENT AT WORK

The Ingredients of a Sustainability Plan


Mondelēz International is a snack food leader who promotes sustainability throughout its supply chain.
The case outlines sustainability efforts within Mondelēz’s cocoa, coffee, and palm oil divisions. The case
discusses all three types of organizational planning: strategic, tactical, and operational.
Management Update: In 2012 Kraft Foods Inc. split into two companies. One company
specialized in snack foods (Kraft Foods Inc., renamed Mondelēz International) and the
other company (Kraft Foods Group) specialized in grocery items.
In July 2015, Kraft Food Groups merged with H.J. Heinz to form Kraft Heinz. In August
2015, activist investor Bill Ackman announced he had built a 7.5 percent stake in
Mondelēz International, believing the company can cut costs, grow revenues, and place
itself in a position for eventual sale to a competitor. The announcement raises speculation
if Ackman plans to re-merge Mondelez into the new Kraft Heinz company.
1. Case Question 1: Here are a series of Mondelēz’s publicly announced objectives for enhancing
sustainability:

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Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

• Reducing production waste to landfill sites by 60 percent.


• Reducing our energy and GHS in manufacturing.
• Educating employees to reuse water and improve processes.
• Reducing the impact of our operations.
• Addressing child labor in the cocoa supply chain.
• Reducing packaging material.
• Eliminating 50 million pounds of packaging material.
• Buying certified commodities.
Which of these are BEST considered strategic plans? Tactical plans? Operational plans? Which
ones might qualify as programs? Projects? Policies? Be sure to explain your reasoning for each
item.
• Reducing production waste to landfill sites by 60 percent.
o Students may consider this a tactical plan as there is a specific and concrete focus
here of reducing landfill waste by 60 percent.
• Reducing our energy and GHS in manufacturing.
o This could be considered a strategic plan as it is broad in scope yet outlines the
priorities.
• Educating employees to reuse water and improve processes.
o Students may consider this an operational plan as the scope is narrow and deals
with few activities. This may be interpreted as a program or a project depending
on the complexity and depth of the education process.
• Reducing the impact of our operations.
o This statement is broad enough to qualify for a strategic plan.
• Addressing child labor in the cocoa supply chain.
o This could also be interpreted as a strategic plan as it is a general statement but
outlines the priority of child labor.
• Reducing packaging material.
o This is a general statement showing the priority of reduced packaging. Students
may feel this is a strategic plan.
• Eliminating 50 million pounds of packaging material.
o This could be considered a tactical plan as the amount of material is stated.
• Buying certified commodities.
o This specific act points to an operational plan. This could also be considered a
policy as it furthers the organizations move toward a sustainable supply chain.
2. Case Question 2: “Our business success,” says Mondelēz chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld, “is
directly linked to enhancing the well-being of the people who make and enjoy our products and to
supporting the communities where we grow our ingredients.” Assume that you’re a Mondelēz
representative who’s been asked to give a presentation to students in an introductory management
class. Explain Rosenfeld’s reasoning or her “philosophy” of “business success.” Be sure to give
some examples of how and why this approach works at Mondelēz (which, remember, is a global
snack food company).

© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as
permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. 75
Chapter 6: Basic Elements of Planning and Decision Making

The success of the company relies on customers purchasing snack products. Customers are
increasingly opting for healthy snacks. By taking a holistic approach of minding the well-being of
employees, customers, and suppliers, the company is promoting itself as a company that cares.
Having a global presence, the company can ill-afford a customer base on any continent who feels
the company is producing harmful products. For instance, paying special attention to the growing of
products in the supply chain satisfies both the people who live in the growing area as well as
customers purchasing the products anywhere in the world market.
3. Case Question 3: Explain – hypothetically – how the following might emerge as barriers to
sustainability planning at Mondelēz:
• Inappropriate goals.
• An improper reward system.
• A dynamic and complex environment.
• Resistance to change.
• Constraints.
Inappropriate goals may hinder sustainability planning if the goals are unattainable or if they place
too much emphasis on the wrong measure of success. A goal of producing an unsustainable amount
of coffee per acre will hinder sustainability planning.
An improper reward system may encourage suppliers to overestimate their sustainable production.
Many of Mondelēz’s suppliers are countries with unstable governments. If governments change
leaders, the company may face strict controls or a weakened workforce.
Resistance to change may hinder the company if suppliers do not wish to adopt the sustainable
measures the company encourages.
Constraints may come in the form of import restrictions from supplier countries.
4. Case Question 4: According to a 2014 McKinsey & Co. survey of executives, 36 percent included
reputation management – building, maintaining, or improving corporate reputation – among the top
three reasons for addressing sustainability.* Explain how the following management strategies can
help to enhance both sustainability and reputation:
• Setting aggressive internal goals for sustainability initiatives.
• Adopting a unified sustainability strategy with clearly articulated priorities.
• Building a broad leadership coalition in shaping sustainability strategy.
• Ensuring that everyone in the organization understands the financial benefits of
sustainability.

• Setting aggressive internal goals for sustainability initiatives.


o If the company is successful with their goals, they could be the world’s leader at
sustainable production. This could increase both their reputation and their
sustainability efforts as their name will carry more credibility and weight.
• Adopting a unified sustainability strategy with clearly articulated priorities.
o A unified strategy with clearly articulated priorities means the company has a good
chance of successfully fulfilling their goals. Success could build their reputation
and their sustainability efforts.
• Building a broad leadership coalition in shaping sustainability strategy.

76 © 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as
permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.
Management 12e by Ricky W. Griffin

o Broad leadership allows for increased sensitivity to a variety of issues. The more
diverse the leadership, the better the company’s reputation.
• Ensuring that everyone in the organization understands the financial benefits of
sustainability.
o Having all employees on the same page and buying into the sustainability
initiatives increases the chance for success.

* Sheila Bonini and Anne-Titia Bové, “Sustainability’s Strategic Worth: McKinsey Global Survey
Results,” McKinsey & Co., July 2014 www.mckinsey.com , on September 15, 2014.

© 2017 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as
permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. 77
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Mob as having an added irony, when read in the light of his “Charles
XII” and Voltaire’s interest in his writings—

“Thou art the Essence of the War;


Without thee who wou’d in the Field appear?
’Tis all thy own, whoever gets the Praise—
Thy Hands that fight, and ’tis thy purse that pays.
How partial is the common state of things,
And how unjust the Fame of Emperors and Kings!”

Defoe’s “History of the Wars” is written as “by a Scots gentleman


in the Swedish service.” It is a more documentary book than
Voltaire’s, to all outward appearance; and in it he has written with
characteristic fidelity to the make-believe of his literary double the
pseudo “Scots gentleman.” It has much the air of the off-hand,
matter-of-fact military narrator, who does not look for rhetorical
openings, or greatly trouble himself to make the most of his subject.
In his preface he says of Charles XII: “He has done Actions that
Posterity will have room to Fable upon, till they make his History
Incredible, and turn it into Romance.” The romance is already in
process in Defoe’s pages. The following passage in the text may be
quoted to give an idea of his Scots gentleman’s estimate of the King

“And such as these were his Discourses to us, who were his
Servants, which so effectually convinc’d us, that his Cause was just,
and his Foundations right, that however black the Prospect was,
which we had before us; for we could see nothing attending us in the
Process of the War, but Death, or being made Prisoners of War,
which among Northern Princes especially, is but one Degree less in
its Nature to a Soldier; and yet it must be said, in Honour of his
Swedish Majesty’s Service, and of his Servants too; that not an
Officer of Note deserted him to the Day of his Death, or quitted his
Service, tho’ always unfortunate; nay, even the foreign Officers did
not desert him; for we all thought, so much Virtue, such personal
Bravery, such gallant Principles, such immoveable Steadiness, could
not fail, but one Time or other must necessarily have a Turn of
Fortune in the World, must some Time or other find Friends to
support it: For who could imagine, that so gallant a Prince should at
once be abandon’d of all the Princes of the Earth, from whom any
Assistance could be expected; and that he, whose Ancestors had
been the Refuge and Sanctuary of all the Protestant Powers and
Princes in Germany, in their Distress, should at last receive Help
from none of the Successors of those very Princes, who were
establish’d by the Blood and Power of Sweden; nay, to apply it
nearer, should at last be driven out of his Possessions by those very
Powers, whose Ancestors ow’d the Being of their Government, to the
Gallantry and Friendship of the King of Sweden’s Predecessors.”
Other extracts might be made which would show that Defoe was
writing at his utmost stretch of speed when he wrote the “History.”
This, too, is proved by the occasional gaps, dates left blank, and
uncorrected errors of fact, or of the press.

Voltaire’s book, on the other hand, though it repeats some of


Defoe’s errors, is an admirably adroit, and a well-poised and
considered biography: one of the best biographies of great soldiers
ever given to the world. We may conclude, if we will, that Voltaire’s
English experiences in the decisive years of the writing of the book,
which undoubtedly gave a new force and impulse to his genius,
helped him also to his particular mastery in this vein. His tribute to
England in his “Lettres Philosophiques sur les Anglais” is an indirect
testimony to his intellectual expatriation; and with these two books
and his tragedy, “Zaïre,” which followed in 1732, Voltaire may be said
to have attained his brilliant majority.
The students of history who wish to collate Voltaire’s book with
later authorities may be recommended to turn to Mr. Nisbet Bain’s
volume on Charles XII, in the “Heroes of the Nations” series, Mr.
Oscar Browning’s monograph, and Schuyler’s “History of Peter the
Great.”
E. R.
The following are the works of Voltaire—
Dramatic Works:—Œdipe, 1718; Artémire, 1720;
Mariamne, 1724; Zaïre, 1732; Samson (opera), 1732;
L’Enfant Prodigue, 1736; Mahomet, ou le Fanatisme,
1742; Mérope, 1743; Sémiramis, 1748; Nanine, 1749;
Oreste, 1750; L’Orpheline de la Chine, 1755; Tancrède,
1760; L’Ecossaise, 1760; Le Dépositaire, 1772; Irène,
1778; Agathoclès, 1779 (performed on the anniversary of
the poet’s death). Other dramas and operas.
Poems:—La Bastille, 1717; La Henriade (fraudulently
published as La Ligue, 1723-4) 1728; Mort de Mlle.
Lecouvreur, 1730; Temple du Goût, 1733 (prose and
verse); Le Mondain, 1736; Discours sur l’homme (Épîtres
sur le Bonheur, 1738-9); Sur les Événements de 1744;
Fontenoi, 1745; Temple de la Gloire, 1745; La Pucelle
d’Orléans, 1755 (some of the “Chants” had been in
circulation since 1735), in twenty Chants, 1762; a
supplemental one, “La Capilotade,” appeared separately
in 1760; Sur le désastre de Lisbonne, 1756; Sur la Loi
Naturelle, 1756; La Vanité, Le Pauvre Diable, Le Russe à
Paris, 1760; Contes de Guillaume Vadé (with prose,
1764); La Guerre Civile de Génève (burlesque poem),
1768; Les Trois Empereurs en Sorbonne, 1768; Épître à
Boileau, 1769; Les Systèmes, Les Cabales, 1772; La
Tactique, 1773; and others.
Prose Tales:—Le Monde comme il va (or Babouc),
1746; Zadig, 1748 (published in 1747 as “Memnon,
Histoire Orientale”); Memnon, ou la Sagesse Humaine,
1749; Micromégas, 1750; L’Histoire d’un Bon Bramin,
1759; Candide, 1759; Le Blanc et Le Noir, 1764; Jeannot
et Colin, 1764; L’Homme aux Quarante Écus, 1767;
L’Ingénu, 1767; La Princesse de Babylone, 1768; Histoire
de Jenny, 1769; Lettres d’Amabed, 1769; Le Taureau
Blanc, 1774; Les Oreilles du Comte de Chesterfield, 1774;
and others.
Historical Works:—Histoire de Charles XII, 1731;
Siècle de Louis XIV, 1751; enlarged edition 1753 (two
chapters had been printed and suppressed in 1739);
Abrégé de l’Histoire Universelle, vols. i and ii, 1753; vol. iii,
1754; complete edition, 1756 (fragments had appeared in
1745); Annales de l’Empire, 1753; Précis du Siècle de
Louis XV, published in part 1755 and 1763, with additional
chapters, 1769; Essai sur l’Histoire Générale et sur les
Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations depuis Charlemagne
jusqu’à nos jours, five vols, 1756, given in vol. vii of Siècle
de Louis XIV (some chapters had appeared in the
“Mercure” in 1745-6); Histoire de Russie sous Pierre le
Grand: first part, 1759; second part, 1763; La Philosophie
de l’Histoire, 1765 (later the “Discours préliminaire” to
“Essai sur les Mœurs”); La Défense de mon Oncle (in
reply to an adverse criticism on the above work), 1767; Le
Pyrrhonisme de l’Histoire, 1768; Fragments sur l’Histoire
Générale (Pyrrhonism and Tolerance), 1773.
Works on Philosophy and Religion:—Épître
philosophique à Uranie, 1732; Lettres sur les Anglaises
(twenty-four letters), 1733, 1734 (also published as
“Lettres Philosophiques”); Traité de Métaphysique, 1734;
Éléments de la Philosophie de Newton, 1738;
Métaphysique de Newton, 1740; Articles for the
Encyclopédie, 1757; Dictionnaire Philosophique Portatif,
1764; Catéchisme de l’Honnête Homme, 1763; Le
Philosophe Ignorant, 1766; La Raison par Alphabet (new
edition of the Dictionnaire Philosophique), 1769; Lettres
de Memmius, 1771; Questions sur l’Encyclopédie par des
Amateurs, 1770-2; Lettres Chinoises, Indiennes, et
Tartares par un Bénédictin, 1776; Mémoires pour servir à
la vie de M. Voltaire (printed 1784); and others.
Critical Works:—Essai sur la Poésie, 1726; Utile
Examen des Épîtres de J. J. Rousseau, 1736; Lettres sur
la “Nouvelle Héloïse,” 1761; Appel à toutes les Nations de
l’Europe des Jugements d’un écrivain Anglais (later known
as “Du Théâtre Anglais”), 1761; Éloge de M. de Crébillon,
1762; Idées Républicaines (in the “Contrat Social”), 1762;
Théâtre de Corneille (with translation of Shakespeare’s
“Julius Cæsar”), 1764; Examen Important de Milord
Bolingbroke, 1767; Commentaire Historique sur les
Œuvres de l’auteur de la Henriade, 1776; Éloge et
Pensées de Pascal (corrected and enlarged edition),
1776; Commentaire sur l’Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu,
1777; and others.
Miscellaneous Writings:—Épîtres aux Manes de
Genonville, 1729; Épître des Vous et des Tu, 1732; Sur la
Calomnie, 1733; Anecdotes sur Pierre le Grand, 1748;
Mensonges Imprimés (on Richelieu’s Will), 1749; Des
Embellissements de Paris, 1750; Remerciement sincère à
un Homme Charitable, 1750; Diatribe du Doctor Akakia,
1752; Les Quand, 1760; Writings for the rehabilitation of
Jean Calas, who had been unjustly executed, 1762; Traité
sur la Tolérance à l’occasion de la Mort de Jean Calas,
1763; Le Sentiment des Citoyens (attack on Rousseau),
1764; Discours aux Welches, 1764; Les Anciens et les
Modernes, ou la Toilette de Mme. de Pompadour, 1765;
Commentaires sur le livre des délits et des peines, 1766;
Le Cri des Nations (against Papal domination), 1769; De
la Paix Perpétuelle (on fanaticism and tolerance), 1769;
La Méprise d’Arras (on another judicial mistake), 1771;
Éloge de Louis XV; de la Mort de Louis XV et de la
Fatalité, 1774; and other works.
Editions of Voltaire’s works include a few works on
physics and an enormous correspondence.
Chief General Editions of Works:—Ed. Beaumarchais,
etc., 70 vols. 8°, 1784; 92 vols. 12°, 1785-90; Beuchot, 70
vols., 1828, etc.; Ed. du Siècle, 8 vols., 1867-70; Moland,
50 vols., 1877-83; with “Table Générale et Analytique,” by
Charles Pierrot, 1885; Selections have been published,
and separate volumes of letters.
Bibliography:—G. Bengesco, 1882-90.
Life, etc.:—Condorcet, 1787; G. Desnoireterres,
“Voltaire et la Société Française au XVIIIme Siècle,” 1871-
76; Longchamp et Wagnière, “Mémoires sur Voltaire, et
ses ouvrages,” 1825; Bersot, Études sur le XVIIIme Siècle,
1855; A. Pierron, “Voltaire et ses Maîtres,” 1866; Maynard,
“Voltaire; sa vie et ses œuvres,” 1867; D. F. Strauss, 1870;
J. Morley, 1872, 1886; James Paston, 2 vols., 1881; G.
Maugras, “Voltaire et Jean Jacques Rousseau,” 1886; E.
Faguet, 1895; E. Champion, “Voltaire: Études Critiques,”
1897; L. Cronslé, 1899; G. Lanson, 1907; and in Sainte-
Beuve, “Causeries du Lundi,” vol. ii; Brunetière, “Études
Critiques,” vols. i, iii, iv.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE
“CHARLES XII” was written during the years 1727 and 1728. It is
more than 170 years since it was first translated into English.
Opinions of its merits differ widely. Macaulay, classing it with
Boswell’s “Johnson” and Marmontel’s “Mémoires,” says that it “may
be perused with delight by the most frivolous and the most
indifferent.” Carlyle goes even further: “‘Charles XII,’” he writes, “may
still pass for a model in that oft-attempted species of biography; the
clearest details are given in the fewest words; we have sketches of
strange men and strange countries, of wars, adventures,
negotiations, in a style which for graphic brevity rivals Sallust. It is a
line engraving on a reduced scale of that Swede and his mad life,
without colours, yet not without the foreshortenings and perspectives
of a true picture. In respect of composition, whatever may be said of
its accuracy and worth otherwise, we cannot but reckon it as greatly
the best of Voltaire’s histories.”
Adverse criticism, on the other hand, began as early as 1732,
when La Mottraye, who had lived on terms of intimacy with the King,
wrote a scathing criticism of Voltaire’s work. Voltaire succeeded in
making a laughing-stock of this gentleman, but the publication of the
works of Nordberg, the King’s chaplain, and of Adlerfelt, his
chamberlain, shortly afterwards, did bring discredit on some of
Voltaire’s details. Of the modern school of critics, Mr. Nisbet Bain,
who has made a special study of original authorities, does not
hesitate to call the book a “romance.”
Underlying this difference of opinion is the time-honoured
question of the “scientific” as opposed to the “epical” treatment of the
lives of the great. The history of any great man’s career is a kind of
epic poem, and, to borrow Mr. Birrell’s words, “I do not see why we
children of a larger growth may not be interested in the annals of
mankind simply as a story.”
It must, indeed, be admitted that Voltaire is no precise or
scientific historian; but, in the portrayal of the life of a man of action,
rapidity and charm of style is surely as important as the careful
tracing of cause and effect.
Voltaire’s literary style is famous; but work of high literary merit
always suffers in translation; so that any roughness in the present
rendering must be attributed to the translator and not to the author.

“Ett vet jag som aldrig dör—


Det är dom öfver död man.”

One thing I know that never dies—


The verdict passed upon the dead.

“The history of Sweden is the history of her kings,” and of those


kings the most striking is undoubtedly Charles XII, the Lion of the
North. One of the few heroic figures in a prosaic age, he seems to
belong rather to the times of Alfred the Great and Charlemagne than
to those of Richelieu and Louis XIII. He has well been called “the last
of the Vikings,” for the extraordinary nature of his adventures no less
than his dauntlessness and endurance make him a kind of Saga-
hero. The stories told of his childhood show the beginnings of those
Spartan powers of enduring hardship which made him the idol of his
“brave blue boys” in later life.
It is said that at the age of six he almost killed himself by leaving
his bed in a Swedish mid-winter to “harden himself” by sleeping on
the bare boards. The obstinacy which was the most marked
characteristic of his boyhood developed in after years into the
resolution with which as a mere youth he faced the treachery of his
neighbours. “I am resolved,” he said in his first speech to his
Parliament, “never to begin an unrighteous war, but I am also
resolved never to finish a righteous war until I have completely
humbled my enemies.”
In all matters of convention he was “in his simplicity sublime.” He
cared nothing for the pomp of sovereignty, and always wore a
soldier’s plain buff coat; he took his meals standing, spreading the
bread and butter, which was his usual fare, with his thumbs. His
letters to his sister (whom he addresses as “mon cœur”) are full of
real affection, and a glance at them dispels the popular illusion that
he was cold and heartless, just because he could resist the
blandishments of Anna von Königsmarck!
Apart from occasional lapses into the fatalism characteristic of his
race, he seems to have been devout. Shortly after his accession he
ordered the titles “Our Most Gracious Majesty” to be removed from
the liturgy, on the ground that “Almighty God is not appeased by
high-sounding titles but by the prayers of humble and faithful hearts.”
He was the last to lose heart in adversity; he lost his Empire with
as good a grace as he won it. “It is only requisite,” he wrote after
Pultawa, where all was lost but honour, “not to lose courage, or let
go the conduct of affairs.”
His early death was a disaster not only for Sweden but for the
whole of Europe, for he was the first to realize and check the
growing power of Russia.
BOOK I
HISTORY OF CHARLES XII
KING OF SWEDEN
BOOK I
Outline of Swedish history up to the time of Charles XI—Charles’s
education—His enemies—Character-sketch of the Czar, Peter
Alexiowitz—His peculiarities—Alliance of Russia, Poland,
Denmark against Charles XII.

THE kingdom which is made up of Sweden and Finland is,


according to our measurement, about 200 leagues broad and 300
long, and stretches from south to north as far as the 55th degree or
thereabouts. The climate is severe; there is scarcely any spring or
autumn, but there are nine months of winter in the year, and the heat
of summer follows hard upon the excessive cold of winter. Frost from
the month of October onwards is continuous, nor are there any of
those imperceptible gradations between the seasons which, in other
countries, render changes less trying. In compensation Nature has
endowed the Swedes with clear sky and pure air. The summer
sunshine, which is almost continuous, ripens fruit and flowers very
rapidly. The long winter nights are shortened by the twilight evenings
and dawns, which last in proportion to the sun’s distance from
Sweden; and the light of the moon, unveiled by any clouds, and
intensified by reflection from the snow-clad ground, and often, too,
by lights like the Aurora Borealis, makes travelling in Sweden as
easy by night as by day.
The fauna are smaller than in the more central parts of Europe,
on account of the poor pastures. The people are well developed; the
purity of the air makes them healthy, and the severity of the climate
hardens them. They live to a good old age when they do not
undermine their constitutions by the abuse of strong drink, which
Northern nations seem to crave the more because they have been
denied them by Nature.
The Swedes are well built, strong and active, and capable of
undergoing the most arduous labours, hunger and want; they are
born fighters, high spirited and daring rather than industrious. They
have long neglected commerce and are still poor business men,
though commerce alone can supply their country’s wants.
Tradition says that it was chiefly from Sweden (a part of which is
still called Gothland) that there poured those hordes of Goths who
overran Europe and wrested it from the sway of Rome, who for the
past 500 years had played the rôle of tyrant, usurper and lawgiver in
that country. The Northern countries were at that time far more
populous than they are to-day; there was no religious restraint
preventing the citizens from polygamy; the only reproach known to
the womenfolk was that of sterility or of idleness, and as they were
both as industrious and as strong as the men, the period of maternity
was of longer duration.
In spite of this, Sweden, together with what remains to it of
Finland, has not above 4,000,000 inhabitants. The soil is sterile and
poor, and Scania is the only district which produces barley. There is
not more than four millions current money in the whole land. The
public bank, the oldest in Europe, was established to meet a want,
because, as payments are made in brass and iron coin, difficulties of
transport arose.
Sweden enjoyed freedom until the middle of the fourteenth
century; during this long period several revolutions occurred, but all
innovations were in the direction of liberty.
The chief magistrate had the title King, which in different
countries involves very different degrees of power. Thus in France
and Spain it implies an absolute monarchy, while in Poland, Sweden
and Finland it stands for a representative or limited monarchy. In
Sweden the King was powerless without the Council, and the
Council in turn derived its powers from the Parliament, which was
frequently convened. In these great Assemblies the nation was
represented by the nobility, the bishops, and deputies from the
towns. In course of time even the peasantry, that section of the
community which had been unjustly despised and enslaved
throughout almost the whole of North Europe, was admitted to the
Parliament.
In about 1492 this nation, essentially liberty-loving, and never
forgetful of the fact that she had conquered Rome thirteen centuries
before, was brought into subjection by a woman and a nation weaker
than the Swedes. Margaret of Valdemar, the Sémiramis of the North,
Queen of Denmark and Norway, conquered Sweden partly by force
of arms and partly by means of diplomacy, and united her vast
estates into one kingdom.
After her death Sweden was rent by civil war; she alternately
shook off and submitted to the Danish yoke, and was ruled by kings
and ministers alternately. In about 1520 she passed through a period
of cruel oppression at the hands of two tyrants: one was Christian II,
King of Denmark, a monarch with all the vices, and no one
redeeming feature; the other, Archbishop of Upsala, and Primate of
the kingdom, was as cruel as the former. One day these two, acting
in concert, had the consuls, the magistrates of Stockholm and
ninety-four senators seized and massacred by the executioners, on
the ground that they had been excommunicated by the Pope for
having defended the State against the Archbishop. Whilst these two
men, united in oppression, but opposed when it was a question of
dividing the spoil, were exercising the utmost tyranny and the
cruelest vengeance, a new event changed the whole aspect of
affairs in the North.
Gustavus Vasa, a youth descended from the old line of kings,
issued from the depths of the forest of Delecarlia, where he had
been in hiding, and appeared as the deliverer of Sweden. He was
one of those rare products of Nature, a great genius with all the
qualities of a commander of men. His noble stature and an air of
distinction brought him adherents the moment he appeared. His
eloquence, reinforced by his good looks, was all the more
persuasive because it was unassumed. His genius led to the
conception of great undertakings, which ordinary people deemed
foolhardy, but which, in the eyes of the great, were simply brave. His
never-failing courage carried him through all difficulties. He
combined valour with discretion, was essentially gentle in an age of
savagery, and had a reputation for uprightness, as far as that is
possible for a party leader.
Gustavus Vasa had been a hostage of Christian, and kept
prisoner contrary to the laws of nations. Having escaped from prison
he had wandered, disguised as a peasant, in the mountains and
woods of Delecarlia; there, to provide himself both with a livelihood
and with a hiding-place, he found himself forced to work in the
copper-mines. While buried in these vaults he dared to form the
project of dethroning the tyrant. He revealed himself to the peasants,
and impressed them as a man of extraordinary gifts, whom ordinary
men instinctively obey. In a short time he turned these barbarians
into veterans. He attacked Christian and the Archbishop, gained
several victories over them, and drove them both from Sweden.
Then the States duly elected him King of the country which he had
liberated.
Scarcely was he firmly seated on the throne before he embarked
on an enterprise of greater difficulty than his conquests. The real
tyrants of the State were the bishops, who, possessing nearly all the
wealth of Sweden, employed it to oppress the people and to make
war on the kings. This power was all the more terrible because, in
their ignorance, the people regarded it as sacred. Gustavus
punished the Catholic Church for the crimes of her priests. In less
than two years he introduced Lutheranism into Sweden, using as a
means diplomacy rather than force. Having thus, as he put it,
wrested the kingdom from the Danes and the clergy, he reigned in
prosperity and absolutism, and died at the age of seventy, leaving
his dynasty securely seated on the throne, and his form of faith firmly
established.
One of his descendants was that Gustavus Adolphus who is
called the Great. This king conquered Livonia, Ingria, Bremen,
Verden, Vismar, Pomerania, besides more than a hundred towns in
Germany, given up by Sweden after his death. He shook the throne
of Ferdinand II, and protected the Lutherans in Germany, his efforts
in that direction being furthered by the intrigues of Rome herself,
who stood more in awe of the power of the Emperor than of heresy
itself. He it was who, by his victories, contributed to the downfall of
the House of Austria, an undertaking accredited to Cardinal
Richelieu, who was past master in the art of gaining a reputation for
himself, while Gustavus contented himself with great deeds. He was
on the point of carrying war across the Danube, with the possibility of
dethroning the Emperor, when, at the age of thirty-seven, he was
killed in the battle of Lutzen, where he defeated Valstein. He carried
with him to the grave the title of “Great,” the regrets of the North, and
the esteem of his enemies.
His daughter Christine, an extremely gifted woman, preferred
disputations with savants to the government of a people whose
knowledge was confined to the art of war.
She won as great a reputation for resigning the throne as her
ancestors had gained in winning and securing it. The Protestants
have defamed her, as if Lutherans have the monopoly of all the
virtues; and the Papists exulted too much in the conversion of a
woman who was a mere philosopher. She retired to Rome, where
she passed the rest of her life surrounded by the arts which she
loved, and for the sake of which she had renounced an empire at the
age of twenty-seven. After her abdication she induced the States of
Sweden to elect as her successor her cousin Charles Gustavus, the
tenth of that name, son of the Count Palatinate, Duke of Deux Ponts.
This king added new conquests to those of Gustavus Adolphus. First
he invaded Poland, where he gained the celebrated three days’
battle of Warsaw; for some time he waged war successfully against
the Danes, besieged their capital, re-united Scania to Sweden, and
secured the tenure of Sleswick to the Duke of Holstein. Then, having
met with reverses, and made peace with his enemies, his ambition
turned against his own subjects.
He conceived the idea of establishing absolutism in Sweden, but,
like Gustavus the Great, died at the age of thirty-seven, before
having achieved the establishment of that despotism which his son,
Charles XI, completed. The latter, a warrior, like all his ancestors,
was more absolute than them all. He abolished the authority of the
Senate, which was declared to be a royal and not a national
assembly. He was economical, vigilant, and hard-working—in fact,
such a king as would have been popular had not fear dominated all
other sentiments in the hearts of his subjects. He married, in 1680,
Ulrica Eleanora, daughter of Ferdinand, King of Denmark, a virtuous
princess worthy of more confidence than her husband gave her; the
offspring of this marriage was Charles XII, perhaps the most
extraordinary man ever born—a hero who summed up in his
personality all the great qualities of his ancestors, and whose only
fault and only misfortune was that he carried them all to excess. It is
of him, and all that is related of his actions and person, that we now
purpose writing.
The first book they gave him to read was Samuel Puffendorf, in
order that he might become early acquainted with his own and
neighbouring States. He then learned German, which he
henceforward spoke as fluently as his mother tongue. At seven
years old he could manage a horse. Violent exercise, in which he
delighted and which revealed his martial inclinations, early laid the
foundation of a strong constitution equal to the privations to which
his disposition prompted him.
Though gentle enough in early childhood he was unconquerably
obstinate; the only way to manage him was to appeal to his honour
—he could be induced to do anything in the name of honour. He had
an aversion to Latin, but when he was told that the Kings of Poland
and Denmark understood it, he learned it quickly, and for the rest of
his days remembered enough to speak it. Recourse was had to the
same means to induce him to learn French, but he was so
obstinately determined against it that he could not be prevailed upon
to use it even with French ambassadors who knew no other
language. As soon as he had some knowledge of Latin they made
him translate Quintus Curtius; he took a liking to the book rather for
the subject than the style. The tutor who explained this author to him
asked him what he thought of Alexander. “I think,” said the Prince,
“that I would like to be like him.” “But,” was the answer, “he only lived
thirty-two years.” “Ah!” replied the Prince, “and is not that long
enough when one has subdued kingdoms?” These answers were
reported to the King his father, who exclaimed, “That child will excel
me and he will even excel Gustavus the Great.”
One day he was amusing himself in the King’s room by looking
over some geographical plans, one of a town in Hungary taken by
the Turks from the Emperor, and the other of Riga, capital of Livonia,
a province conquered by the Swedes a century earlier. At the foot of
the map of the Hungarian town was this quotation from the Book of
Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord.” The young Prince read these words, then took a
pencil and wrote beneath the map of Riga, “The Lord gave thee to
me, and the devil shall not take thee from me.” Thus, in the most
insignificant acts of his childhood, his resolute disposition revealed
traits characteristic of greatness, showing what he was one day to
be.
He was eleven years old when he lost his mother; she died from
an illness brought on by the anxiety caused her by her husband and
by her own efforts to conceal it. By means of a kind of court called
the Chamber of Liquidation, Charles XI had robbed many of his
subjects of their property. A crowd of citizens ruined by this court—
merchants, farmers, widows and orphans—filled the streets of
Stockholm, and daily poured forth their useless lamentations at the
gate of the Palace. The Queen gave all her substance to help these
poor wretches: her money, jewels, furniture and even her clothes.
When she had nothing left to give them she threw herself weeping at
her husband’s feet, praying him to have compassion on his subjects.
The King answered sternly, “Madam, we have taken you that you
may give us children, not advice.” Henceforward he is reported to
have treated her with such severity that he shortened her life. He
died four years after her, in the fifty-second year of his age and the
thirty-seventh of his reign, just as the Empire, Spain and Holland on
the one hand, and France on the other, had referred the decision of
their quarrels to his arbitration, and when he had already begun the
work of peace-making between these powers.
To his son of fifteen he left a kingdom secure at home and
respected abroad. His subjects were poor, but brave and loyal; the
treasury in good order and managed by able ministers. Charles XII,
on his accession, not only found himself absolute and undisturbed
master of Sweden and Finland, but also of Livonia, Carelia and
Ingria; he possessed Wismar, Wibourg, the Isles of Rügen, Oesel,
and the most beautiful part of Pomerania and the Duchy of Bremen
and Verden, all conquests of his ancestors, assured to the crown by
long tenure and by the solemn treaties of Munster and Oliva,
strengthened by the prestige of Swedish arms. The peace of
Ryswick, begun under the auspices of the father, was completed by
the son; who was thus arbiter of Europe from the beginning of his
reign.
Swedish law fixes the age of the King’s majority at fifteen years;
but Charles XI, who exercised absolute power in all points, deferred
that of his son, by will, to the age of eighteen. By this will he favoured
the ambitious views of his mother, Edwiga Eleanora of Holstein,
widow of Charles X.
This Princess was nominated by Charles XI guardian of her
grandson and, in conjunction with a Council of six persons, regent of
the kingdom. The regent had taken part in politics during the reign of
the King her son. She was old, but her ambition, greater than her
strength and ability, made her hope to enjoy the sweets of authority
long during the minority of the King, her grandson. She kept him
away from public business as far as possible; the young Prince
passed his time hunting, or busied himself with reviewing his troops.
Sometimes he even went through their exercises with them. These
pursuits seemed the natural outcome of the vivacity of youth, and
there was nothing in his conduct to alarm the regent. Then, too, she
flattered herself that the dissipation of these exercises made him
unable to apply himself, and so gave her the opportunity of a longer
regency. One November day, the very year of his father’s death,
after he had reviewed several regiments accompanied by the State-
councillor Piper, he was standing plunged apparently in deep
thought. “May I take the liberty,” said the latter to him, “of asking your
Majesty of what you are thinking so seriously?” “I am thinking,”
answered the Prince, “that I feel worthy of the command of those fine
fellows, and that it is not my will that either they or I should receive
our orders from a woman.” Piper at once seized the chance of
making his fortune, and realizing that his own influence was not
strong enough for him to venture on so dangerous an enterprise as
depriving the Queen of the regency, and declaring the King of age,
he proposed the matter to the Count Axel Sparre, an ambitious and
aspiring man, pointing to the King’s confidence as a likely reward.
Sparre was credulous, undertook the business, and worked hard in
Piper’s interests. The Councillors of the Regency were drawn into
the scheme, and vied with one another in hastening the execution of
it in order to gain the King’s favour. They went in a body to propose it
to the Queen, who did not in the least expect such a declaration.
The States-General were then assembled, the Councillors of the
Regency laid the matter before them, and they voted unanimously
for it. The affair was hastened on with a rapidity which nothing could
check; so that Charles XII merely expressed a wish to rule, and
within three days the States handed over the government to him.
The power and influence of the Queen melted away at once.
Henceforth she lived in private, a life more suited to her age, but less
to her taste.
The King was crowned on the following 24th of December. He
made his entry into Stockholm on a sorrel horse, shod with silver,
with a sceptre in his hand, and amid the acclamations of a whole
nation—a nation always extravagantly fond of novelty and full of
great expectations of a young Prince.
The right of consecrating and crowning the King belongs to the
Archbishop of Upsala, and is almost the only privilege remaining to
him from among a number claimed by his predecessors. After having
anointed the Prince according to custom, he was holding the crown
ready to put on his head, when Charles seized it from his hands,
and, with a proud glance at the Prelate, crowned himself. The mob,
always impressed by a touch of majesty, applauded the King’s
action; even those who had suffered most from the tyranny of the
father could not refrain from praising the pride which was the
inauguration of their servitude.
As soon as Charles was master, he took Councillor Piper into his
confidence, and handed over the direction of affairs to him, so that
he was soon Premier in all but name. A few days later he made him
Count, a title of distinction in Sweden, and not, as in France, an

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