Planning approaches and tool - Unit 5

Question 1

What types of plants do managers use?

Answer 1

Short vs. Long Range Planning -
- Short-range plans
a) Less than 1 year
b) Ex. hiring new employee

Long-range plans -
a) Greater than 1 year
b) Ex. launch new product

Question 2

What types of plans do managers use?

Answer 2

Operational Plans -
- Provide clear understanding of how to complete day to day tasks
- Ensure that individuals and teams are able to reach defined organizational objectives
- Ex. Mcdonald’s has a clearly defined set of operational plans for all of its stores and employee positions

Question 3

What types of plans do managers use?

Answer 3

Single-use vs. standing-use -
- Single-use plans = used once and created for unique situations
a) Projects, budgets, building a new headquarters

• Standing-use plans = designed to be used again and again
  a) Policies - broad guidelines to assist in making decisions
  b) Rules and procedures - detailed plans that state actions to be taken in specific situations

Question 4

What is forecasting?

Answer 4

• Using current and past data to make informed decisions about the future
• How have certain products and services changed in the last 10-20 years?
  a) Blockbuster vs. Netflix

Question 5

Project management with gantt charts:

Answer 5

• Is a visual representation of all the tasks in a project plotted against a timescale
• Main purpose of a Gantt chart is to identify the minimum amount of time needed to complete a project

Question 6

The value of Ganit Charts to a Business?

Answer 6

Advantages -
- Shows a quick overview of a large number of tasks and deadlines
- Can help supervisors see if project is on target for completion within estimated duration
- Delays to the project can be calculated quickly

Disadvantages -
- Large-scale projects can end up creating an overly detailed Gantt chart that is hard to read
- The length of each bar does not indicate the complexity of the task (and therefore the resources required for a complex task)