Premium Essay

Planning in Organisations

In:

Submitted By el0506
Words 460
Pages 2
As a senior member of staff you have been tasked to explain to a new recruit the following planning concepts:
Corporate Plan
Business Plan
Strategic Plan
Tactical Plan

Planning is the most basic managerial function. When done properly, it sets the direction for the organizing, leading and controlling functions. Planning is the conscious, systematic process of making decisions about goals and activities that an individual , group, work unit or org will pursue in the future. Planning is not an informal or haphazard response to a crisis; it is a purposeful effort, directed and controlled by managers, often drawing on the knowledge and experience of employees through out the organization. Planning provides individuals and work units with a clear map to follow in their future activities; at the same time, this map may allow for individual circumstances and changing conditions. Because planning is an important management function, managers at all levels use it. However, the scope and activities of the planning process at each level of the organization often differ.

Strategic Planning is the process if analyzing the organization’s external and internal environments; developing a mission and a vision; formulating overall goals; identifying general strategies to be pursued and; allocating resources to achieve the organisation’s goals. In developing strategic plans, managers take an organization wide approach. The overall purpose of strategic planning is to deal effectively with environmental opportunities and threats as they relate to the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses. Strategic planning looks at 7 major areas.

The first major element of strategic planning is developing mission, vision and value statements . The mission is the organisation’s purpose or reason for existing. A statement of mission may answer basic questions such as, What business are

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Strategic Management - Financial Planning Organisation

...Companies Operations The company is a national financial planning organisation who offers a full range of financial services to a wide variety of clients. Vision Statement “We provide financial planning services through a national network of Adviser Practices staffed by qualified financial planners. Our advisers are dedicated to helping you to secure your financial future and achieve your lifestyle choices. We develop a deep understanding of your needs and risk profile before delivering tailored solutions to your wealth creation problems. Our goal is to work together with you on your journey over your lifetime. As one of Australia’s most respected financial planning groups, our Financial delivers unique and appropriate solutions for the creation and management of wealth.” Due to the fact that the company has not published a Vision Statement, the above passage has been taken off the WB website to analyse as such. As can be seen it is directed toward clients rather than at employees of the company but still gives a broad directional indication to managers of where to direct their operations. Overall as a vision statement the above does not provide the motivation and future direction that a properly worded vision statement can and is meant to provide. The vision is forward-looking and directional in that it gives employees an idea of what services they are to provide. It also delivers feasible objectives for employees to work towards. However, as a vision...

Words: 2705 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

The Role of Corporate Human Planning and Effective Budgeting on Organisation Performance and Productivity

...CORPORATE HUMAN PLANNING AND EFFECTIVE BUDGETING ON ORGANISATION PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY: AN EMPERICAL EVIDENCE OF BY OPURUM,GODSWILL CHINONSO BEING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL PRESENTED TO THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH, IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. JANUARY 2013. 1. INTRODUCTION Planning is one of the oldest behaviours of human nature . most reason people plan are just to have a good life in rainy days. Planning is one thing that is indetachable to human beings that is why human being are seen as higher primates because of their ability to manage and use the available resources to satisfy the unavailable needs. Planning is one activity which is seen in almost all corporations,government,military,hospitals,schools,companies, even non profit organisations like the churches,and social groups. Though it has been seen commonly as the process of considering satisfactory future decisions to reach a set gaol., it still needs to be broaden in its institutional setting. To plan is to set a goal and achieve a set goal, there a higher need for proper planning. Planing is the most relevant function of management. It is that the mother of all other management functions. The strength of every other management perspectives rest on planning from the organisation chart,mission statement, Goal, budegting,cordination to staffing all rest on proper planning for effectiveness...

Words: 420 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Assess and Critically Comment on the Idea That Strategic Planning Systems Can Stifle Innovative Thinking in Organisations

...Assess and critically comment on the idea that strategic planning systems can stifle innovative thinking in organisations It is debatable whether strategic planning systems can stifle innovative thinking in organisations. Although strategic planning systems are used in order to make companies work more efficiently, they may restrict organisations from showing their true potential by stifling innovative thinking. There are other theorists that state that listening to closely to markets and strategies can create a barrier to commercialising new technology and lead to reduced competitiveness. (Ferrell and Lukas 2000). In order to truly understand and analyse whether innovative thinking is being constrained by strategic planning systems, it is essential to understand which strategic planning systems are being used, whether their implementation limits the allowance to new and different approaches to organisations, and whether companies in real-life are being affected by this constraint. Before analysing whether innovative thinking is oppressed by strategic planning systems, it is important to define what a strategic planning system is. According to the BNET Business Dictionary (2007), strategic analysis is ‘…the process of conducting research on the business environment within which an organisation operates and on the organisation itself, in order to formulate strategy’. There are many different tools and analytical methods that are used by companies but there are three main...

Words: 1745 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

P1 – Identify How Two Organisations Plan Recruitment Using Internal and External Sources. in This Assignment I Will Be Investigating Recruitment Planning in Two Big Organisation.

...Recruitment and selection in business P1 – Identify how two organisations plan recruitment using internal and external sources. In this assignment I will be investigating recruitment planning in two big organisation. House of Fraser (HOF) House of Fraser is a British, national organisation within the competitive retail industry. The company sells a variety of products under 5 main departments from Men’s shoes to Furniture to Beauty and electrical. House of Fraser also have their own Wedding list and buy and collect scheme, so people can order online and collect it at the store when the delivery arrives at the store. House of Frazer is a department store group with over 60 stores across United Kingdom and Ireland. And was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849. Reasons why vacancies become available at House of Fraser At House of Frazier give a good working environment for their employees. Currently employed 5,000 HOF employees’ staff and 13,000 concession staff. However it occurs that employees leave for reasons such as * Maternity leave would require a temporary employee to cover the position of the women until the member of staff is available to work again. * If there was a long term illness and would require the person to leave work for a period of time, there will need to be a temporary worker appointed to cover for the worker until the member of staff is able to work again. * Termination in the contract...

Words: 3159 - Pages: 13

Free Essay

Levels of Corporate Planning and Innovation

...LEVELS OF CORPORATE PLANNING AND INNOVATION Name: Institution: Date: Executive Summary One student in an Executive MBA class based his response on introduction of a self scanner in checkout terminals in a British supermarket to an assignment that required them to link a significant innovation that an organisation had introduced with strategic change in the organisation. The student failed the assignment. This report will examine the reasons why the student failed by looking at the differences between strategic, tactical and operational planning. The report analyses what causes the strategic changes in an organisation and what qualifies as strategic change. The report also discusses innovation and the different levels of innovation. This report also discusses whether the student was right to classify self-scanner checkout terminals as a significant innovation that could be linked to strategic change in the organisation. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 1 Introduction 4 1.1 Business Policy 4 1.2 Strategic Change 4 2 Strategic, Tactical and Operational Planning 5 2.1 Statement of the Objective 5 2.2 Differences between Strategic, Tactical and Operational Planning 5 3 Innovation 8 3.1 What is Innovation? 8 3.2 Impact of innovation on growth strategies 10 4 Conclusion 11 Introduction This report will identify reasons the student failed his assignment...

Words: 2916 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Strategic Planning

...Strategic Planning OVERVIEW Brief description This toolkit provides a model for taking an organisation through a strategic planning process. It covers planning to do strategic planning, covering the background issues that need to inform or direct the strategic planning process, and then defining the strategic framework for the project or organisation activities. It is this strategic framework that gives the activities coherence and direction. We have included practical exercises to use during a strategic planning process. The toolkit expands on the short introduction to strategic planning in the toolkit on Overview of Planning. Why have a detailed toolkit on strategic planning? Strategic planning is the core of the work of an organisation. Without a strategic framework you don’t know where you are going or why you are going there. So, then, it doesn’t really matter how you get there! This toolkit offers you a way to do detailed strategic planning. You can replicate the method in any organisation or project that needs to do strategic planning. Another toolkit in the CIVICUS toolkits project deals with an Overview of Planning. That toolkit will help you see how strategic planning fits into the overall planning process. The toolkit on Action Planning will help you take the process further. The toolkit on Monitoring and Evaluation will help you to expand on the process of impact evaluation. You do strategic planning to help your project or organisation make a significant impact...

Words: 13862 - Pages: 56

Premium Essay

Need Help

...Thinking... The conceptual background to strategy, marketing and planning Stephen Cashman, February 2003 This online background paper provides a review of some of the definitions, theories and concepts underpinning strategy. As such it is intended to introduce the key concepts involved, or to form an overall reminder of the various issues relating to these areas. 1. What is strategy about and why is it so important? ‘Every company needs a strategy – either explicit or implicit.’ Costas Markides (1995) ‘An effective strategic management process has become the essential norm for businesses.’ Richard Hanscombe and Philip Norman (1993) ‘Effective strategic management is the ultimate aim of all managers.’ Financial Times, 1997 ‘The survival, growth and prosperity of any organisation depends on the quality and viability of the strategy the organisation is pursuing.’ Andrew Kakabadse, Ron Ludlow and Susan Vinicombe (1988) Indeed, such is the importance attached to the subject of strategy that one commentator on the subject, Richard Whittington (1993), reports that ‘there are thirty-seven books in print with the title Strategic Management’. Similarly a leading strategy thinker, Henry Mintzberg, and his colleagues (1998) note that ‘The literature of strategic management is vast – the number of items we reviewed over the years numbers close to 2,000 – and it grows larger every day.’ However, despite the importance given to them, thinking, writing and talking about ‘strategy’-related...

Words: 8525 - Pages: 35

Premium Essay

Recruitment & Selection

...HR planning for future recruitment activities is difficult even in any economic climate. So when businesses are ever changing and the economic climate is challenging, undertaking HR planning for future recruitment activities is very difficult. It can be done however and this paper will explain how. This essay will outline what HR Planning is and how it is related to future recruitment activities as well as outline the benefits of HR planning in an organisation as well as what those difficulties are. I will then go through some strategic human resource management techniques that will help the human resource planning process easier in relation to future recruitment activities. Human resource planning is a constant process, which aims to ensure that organisational objectives are met by obtaining the right employees at the right time. Importantly with appropriate skill sets that help to deliver a competitive advantage in the organisation’s chosen market place (Compton, Morrissey and Nankervis, 2009). HR planning also assists managers in determining how the organisation should plan for its staffing requirements through future recruitment activities, however it is more than that. Charmine, Hartel, and Fujimoto (2010) discuss the human resource-planning framework. This involves a dynamic process that involves continuous environmental scanning, an analysis of organisational objectives as well as strategies and policies to ensure that the company has the right number of employees who...

Words: 1655 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Work Force Planning

...Organisational Development and Work Design Resource Handout Activity Workforce Planning By  Geri  Daube,  Huw  Flatau  Harrison,  Jason  Papadopoulos  &  Line  Groenvold       October  2014     1         Table of Contents What is Workforce Planning?  .........................................................................................................  3   History of workforce planning  .....................................................................................................  3   The importance of workforce planning   ........................................................................................  4   Implementation of workforce planning  ........................................................................................  5   Application to the Western Australian Mining Industry   ..............................................................  8   Workforce Planning Needed to Account for a Dynamic Environment  .....................................  10   Dealing with the challenges involved in workforce planning  ....................................................  12   References  .....................................................................................................................................  13   Appendix A  .....................................................................

Words: 3252 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Corporate Strategy

...MBA 685 Corporate Strategy Strategic thinking What is strategic thinking? The term ‘strategic’ has become a much over-used word in business today. You may have observed that the term is increasingly attached to people’s job titles and is used to dignify roles and elevate the status of projects that might otherwise not be regarded as sufficiently important. The dilution of the term strategic is unfortunate because one of the key functions of general managers in all organisations is to engage in strategic thinking. Strategy has a long heritage. The word ‘strategy’ comes from the Greek word for generalship. This betrays the origins of strategy, which lie in the military. Indeed, long before companies were said to have strategies, strategy was a well-developed art within the military sphere. The first writer on strategy is generally held to be the Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu, whose most popular work, The Art of War, is widely read to this day (Sun Tzu, 2005). In Sun Tzu’s view, the art of generalship was about outmanoeuvring your opponent, convincing them that you were strong in places where you were weak and, conversely, that you were weak in places where you were strong. It was about luring the opposition into a position of weakness before battle was engaged, so that even if you possessed weaker forces, you could overcome the enemy through guile and cunning. Military writers often make a distinction between strategic decisions and tactical decision-making...

Words: 6213 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Planning and Leading Functions

...…………………………………………………………… 1 Assumptions …………………………………………………………… 1 Limitations …………………………………………………………… 1 Background …………………………………………………………… 1 Plan …………………………………………………………… 1 Discussion …………………………………………………………… 2 Planning …………………………………………………………… 2 Organisational Goals ……………………….. 2 Strategic Planning ……………………….. 2 Leading …………………………………………………………… 3 Transformational Leadership .………………………. 4 Conclusion …………………………………………………………… 4 Recommendations …………………………………………………………… 5 References …………………………………………………………… 6 1. Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to advise Company X’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) how the effective use of the planning and leading functions can be utilised to ensure innovative values and practices are occurring within the organisation. The report was commissioned by the COO following the acquisition of a new business that lacked formalised planning and consequently the sales and profitability of the business had been in a decline over the past three years. In Item 3 the report examines innovative values and practices in the context of the planning and leading functions, and specifically, how the effective use of formalised planning processes can create an innovative environment. The positive impacts of strategical planning that incorporates human resource management and a formalised educational program are then analysed. The issue of strategical training is highlighted as an area of importance in order to stimulate innovation and...

Words: 2754 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Operation Management

...management can be defined as the planning, scheduling, and control of the activities that transform inputs into finished goods and services. In other words, it is ‘a field of study that focuses on the effective planning , scheduling, use, and control of a manufacturing or service organisation through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, and management information systems, quality management, production management, accounting, and other functions as the affect the operation. Operations management concerns making the most efficient use of whatever resources an organisation to provide the finished goods or services that its customer need on time and cost effective manner. Operations management is related with the strategy of the organisation. In this coursework, we will demonstrate the relationship between the operations management and the strategy of the organisation with the help of a corporate entity. The corporate entity chosen is McDonald's Corporation. McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast-food restaurants. The business began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by siblings Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California. Today McDonald's restaurants are found in 120 countries and around the world and serve nearly 54 million customers each day. Product Planning Organisations exist to provide products and services which can be purchased by other organisations or an individual. Therefore planning of products and services...

Words: 1827 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Hr Methods

...strategic human resource planning By Workinfo.com, www.workinfo.com 1. Introduction A comprehensive Human Resource Strategy plays a vital role in the achievement of an organisation's overall strategic objectives and visibly illustrates that the human resources function fully understands and supports the direction in which the organisation is moving. A comprehensive HR Strategy will also support other specific strategic objectives undertaken by the marketing, financial, operational and technology departments. In essence, an HR strategy should aim to capture "the people element" of what an organisation is hoping to achieve in the medium to long term, ensuring that:- • • • • it has the right people in place it has the right mix of skills employees display the right attitudes and behaviours, and employees are developed in the right way. If, as is sometimes the case, organisation strategies and plans have been developed without any human resource input, the justification for the HR strategy may be more about teasing out the implicit people factors which are inherent in the plans, rather than simply summarising their explicit "people" content. An HR strategy will add value to the organisation if it: • • articulates more clearly some of the common themes which lie behind the achievement of other plans and strategies, which have not been fully identified before; and identifies fundamental underlying issues which must be addressed by any organisation or business if its people...

Words: 3040 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Operations Management at Mcdonalds

...Operations Management (McDonalds Case Study) INTRODUCTION - OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT: Operations management can be defined as the planning, scheduling , and control of the activities that transform inputs into finished goods and services. In other words, it is ‘a field of study that focuses on the effective planning , scheduling, use, and control of a manufacturing or service organisation through the study of concepts from design engineering, industrial engineering, and management information systems, quality management, production management, accounting, and other functions as the affect the operation.’ (APICS Dictionary, 1995) Operations management concerns making the most efficient use of whatever resources an organisation has so as to provide the finished goods or services that its customer need in a timely and cost effective manner. (Barnett ,1996). Operations management is related with the strategy of the organisation. In this coursework, we will demonstrate the relationship between the operations management and the strategy of the organisation with the help of a corporate entity. The corporate entity chosen is McDonald's Corporation. COMPANY BACKGROUND McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast-food restaurants. The business began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by siblings Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California. Their introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant...

Words: 1953 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Management Function

...2.1 Planning Planning which is the early stage of management function takes an important role of achieving organisation’s goal .Planning is identified as a procedure managers use to identify objectives and to structure major tasks of the organisations (Frear,2011). Richard (1976) states that planning which is a multifaceted process, involves defining goals and establishing oranisational strategies to achieve the goal. Generally, Planning is the process for managers to identify the objectives and the plan or schedule to guide how to achieve the objectives. According to Perry (2001, as cited in Dunn &Liang, 2011) states that there is a significant relationship between organisation failure and lack of planning. Wimalasena (2011) cited Osmani (2008) as finding that to achieve organisation’s objectives it is necessary to begin planning even before the start of the program. In addition, Planning is the most difficult part of management functions but it becomes the most valuable.(Greer& Virick, 2008). Managers need to be aware of the importance of the planning because it would affect the following stages. For example, if the plan is ambiguous or unachievable, the following stages will be influenced and might result in inefficient management. To ensure the objectives will be achieved by the proper planning, the strategic planning is widely used nowadays. Biddle (1988) states that the strategic planning is widely advocated for non-profit organisations. The purpose of strategic planning...

Words: 1463 - Pages: 6