1.7 Organisation Planning Tools

Question 1

4M’s

Answer 1

Management
Manpower (people)
Machines (equipment)
Materials

Question 2

Benefits + Limitations of Fishbone Diagram

Answer 2

Benefits: 
Structured way to think through causes of a problem
Shows relationships between problems
Facilitates brainstorming
Keeps team meetings focused

Drawbacks:
Qualitative - based on opinions
Simplistic for real world problems

Question 3

What are the 3 organisational tools we need to know

Answer 3

Fishbone Diagram (Qualitative), Gantt Chart, Decision Trees (Quantitative)

Question 4

3 Parts of a Key in Decision Trees

Answer 4

Decision Node (Square), Chance Node (Circle), Rejected Path (Line w/ slashes’)

Question 5

Benefits + Limitations of Gantt Chart

Answer 5

Benefits: 
Avoids completion confusion
Keeps everybody on same page
Understand task relationships
Effectively allocate resources 
Get a handle on the future
Can motivate people
However:
Based on estimations 
Does not allow for external factors out of control that may disrupt schedule

Question 6

Benefits + Limitations of Decision Trees

Answer 6

Benefits of decision trees:
Allow managers to set out in a clear and logical manner
All potential options can be seen at the same time
Risks can be considered
Costs involved can aid decision making
A tangible insight is given
Limitations of decision trees:
Purely quantitative technique. No allowance for external issues which may be relevant
Difficult to predict probabilities accurately
Pay-offs are assumed and not always correct
No in-between value for probability