MNO Chapter 05 - Planning - The Foundation of Successful Management
MNO Chapter 05 - Planning - The Foundation of Successful Management
Foundation of Successful
Management
Management process involves POLC Planning, Organising, Leading,
Controlling
Planning is the setting of goals and deciding how to achieve them.
Planning is coping with uncertainty by formulating future courses of action to
achieve specified results.
Defenders
Prospectors
Prospectors-"Let's Create
Our Own Opportunities,
Not Wait for Them to
Happen"
Prospectors focus on
developing new products or
services and in seeking out
new markets, rather than
waiting for things to happen.
Like 19th-century gold
miners, these companies are
"prospecting for new ways of
doing things.
The continual product and
market innovation may result
in such companies sufferring
a loss of efficiency.
Their focus on change can
scare competitors.
Prospector company such as
Gap, announced it would look
for new sales by expanding
abroad.
Another such company is
Apple.
Analysers
Reactors
It is a clear sense of the future and the actions needed to get there. "A vision
should describe what's happening to the world you compete in and what you
want to do about it, and it should guide decisions. Fortune article
After formulating a mission statement, top managers need to develop a vision
statement, which expresses what the organization should become, where
it wants to go strategically.
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
planning by top
management
planning by middle
management
Strategic
Tactical
Operational
GOALS
GOALS
GOALS
management and
focus on objectives for
the organization as a
whole.
Standing Plans: Policies, Procedures, & Rules Standing plans are plans
developed for activities that occur repeatedly over a period of time. Standing
plans consist of policies, procedures, and rules.
SMART Goals
Five characteristics of a good goal are represented by the acronym SMART.
A SMART goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and has
Target dates.
Specific
Specific:
Goals should
be stated in
specific
rather than
vague
terms.
The goal that
"As many
planes as
possible
should arrive
on time" is
too general.
The goal that
"Ninety
percent of
planes should
arrive within
15 minutes of
the scheduled
arrival time"
is specific.
Measurable Attainable
Measurable:
Whenever
possible,
goals should
be
measurable,
or quantifiable
(as in "90% of
planes should
arrive within 15
minutes ..." ).
That is, there
should be some
way to measure
the degree to
which a goal
has been
reached .
Attainable:
Goals should
be
challenging,
of course, but
above all they
should be
realistic and
attainable.
It may be best
to set goals
that are quite
ambitious so as
to challenge
people to meet
high standards.
Always,
however, the
goals should be
achievable
within the
scope of the
time,
equipment, and
financial
support
available.
Results-
Target
oriented
Resultsoriented:
Only a few
goals should
be chosen,
and they
should
support the
organization's
vision.
dates
Target
dates: Goals
should specify
the target
dates or
deadline
dates when
they are to be
attained.
In writing goals,
start with "To"
and follow with
action-oriented
verbs-"complet
e," "increase"
("to decrease
by I0% the time
to get people
settled before
departure").
Some verbs
shouldnt be
used in goal
statements as
they imply
activities - the
tactics to
realize goals
(e.g. having
baggage
For example,
it's unrealistic
to expect an
airline to
improve its ontime arrivals by
I 0% overnight.
However, you
could set a
target date by
which this goal
is to be
achieved
allowing
enough time for
lower-level
managers and
employees to
revamp their
systems and
work habits and
gives them a
clear time
handlers
waiting). For
example, you
should not use
"to develop,"
"to conduct,"
"to implement."
frame in which
they know what
they are
expected to do.
Deadlines
As we saw under the "T" (for "has Target dates") in SMART goals, deadlines are
essential to goal setting in business.
Because the whole purpose of planning and goals is to deliver to a client
specified results within a specified period of time, deadlines become a great
motivator, both for you and for the people working for you.
It's possible, to let deadlines mislead you into focusing too much on
immediate results and thereby ignore overall planning.
In general, however, deadlines can help you keep your eye on the "big
picture" while simultaneously paying attention to the details that will help
you realize the big picture.
Deadlines can
o help concentrate the mind, so that you make quick decisions rather
than put them off.
o help you ignore extraneous matters (such as cleaning up a messy
desk) in favor of focusing on what's important-realizing the goals on
time and on budget.
o provide a mechanism for giving ourselves feedback.