Ch8 Planning Flashcards
what is planning
defining objectives, strategies and tactics to integrate and coordinate acitivities, can be formal or informal
reasons for planning
- provide direction - improves job performance, coordination and efficiency
- reduce uncertainty - anticipating change and develop appropriate responses
- minimise waste and redundancy - inefficiencies are highlighted during planning
- measure of performance - provides standards for controlling
how does planning affect performance?
Formal planning is associated with positive financial results, but…
- Quality of planning/implementation more important than the extent of it
- External factors can reduce the impact of planning
- Planning-performance relationship influenced by the planning time frame (longer the time, greater the uncertainty)
types of plans
characterised by BREADTH, TIME-FRAME, FREQUENCY OF USE and SPECIFICITY
- strategic vs operational
- ST vs LT
- specific vs directional
- single-use vs standing
are NOT independent of each other
strategic vs operational
formulating objectives that will apply to overall org vs specifying details of how objectives will be met within each operational area
longer time frame, less specifc
ST vs LT
cover less than one year, more than one year
specific vs directional
plans that have clearly defined objectives and
leave no room for interpretation - SMART
plans that are flexible and set
out general guidelines without specific courses of action
when uncertainty is high, directional preferable because of time and cost involved with frequently altering specific plans
weigh flexibility against clarity
single-use vs standing plans
one-time plan for unique situation
ongoing plan w/ guidance for repeated acitivities and procedures e.g. nondiscrimination policy of Microsoft
contingency factors in planning
- level in the org - operational planing for lower-level while strategic planning for top (small biz may have to do both)
- degree of external uncertainty - more short term, directional due to cost/inefficiency of altering plans frequently
- length of future commitments - commitment concept states that the longer that current plans will affect future commitments, the longer you should plan for them
stated vs real objectives
official statements made by org about what it wants various stakeholders to believe, are usually conflicting and according to what society thinks org shouldd o
real objectives - objectives actually pursued by org defined by actions of its members
traditional objective setting
purpose: control
- top-down approach where senior mgmt sets objectives that flow down through the org and become subgoals for each organisational area
- largely non-operational and subgoals are determined by interpretation of lower-level managers and individual employees
- objectives lose clarity and unity
MBO
process where** specific performance objectives** for an explicit time frame are jointly determined by subords and superiors, progress is periodically appraised and rewards allocated for progress
invovles breaking down overall objectives into objectives for each divison/department and individual in a collaborative way, making and implementing action plans, periodic appraisal and performance-based rewards
uses means-ends chain - accomplishment of goals at one level serves as means for achieving ends at next level
well written goals are
SMART
challenging yet attainable
written down
communicated to all necessary employees
studies on effectiveness of MBO
- more difficult goals lead to consistently higher performance even if goal is not achieved
- specific hard goals produce higher level of output than generalised or none
- feedback improves performance
- most effective if achievable yet challenging
- participation prompts individuals to establish more difficult goals for themselves
what are the main contemporary issues in planning
environmental scanning
VR in planning
