CCT112 Quiz 2 Flashcards
(213 cards)
Planning
Management function:
- setting goals
- establishing strategies for achieving those goals
- developing plans to integrate and coordinate work activities
Four Purposes of Planning
- providing direction
- reducing uncertainty
- minimizing waste and redundancy
- establishing the goals or standards used in controlling
Planning can be Formal and Informal
- Smaller businesses often use informal planning
- little is verbalized or written down
- the planning is general and lacks continuity
Formal Planning
- specific, time-oriented goals
- goals written and shared
Criticism of Formal Planning
- may create rigidity
- can’t replace intuition and creativity
- focuses attention on today’s success, not tomorrow’s survival
- reinforces success (what already works), which may lead to failure (limits innovation)
does it pay to plan?
YES
Planning-performance relationship
Formal planning is associated with positive financial performance
- higher profits
- a higher return on assets
- improved quality of planning
- appropriate implementation
Objectives
desired outcomes for individuals, groups, or the entire organization
- provide management with direction and serve as a means to measure progress
Stated Objectives
Official statements of what the organization wants the public to believe
Real Objectives
Objectives that the organization actually pursues
Goals (objectives)
desired outcomes or targets
Plans
documents that outline how goals are going to be met: resource allocations, schedules, etc.
Strategic plans
plans that apply to the entire organization and establish the organization’s overall goals
Operational plans
plans that encompass a particular operational area of the organization
Long-term plans
plans with a time frame beyond three years
Short-term plans
plans covering one year or less
Specific plans
plans that are clearly defined and leave no room for interpretation
Directional plans
plans that are flexible and set out general guidelines
Single-use Plans
a one-time plan specifically designed to meet the needs of a unique situation
- Budgets
- Project reports
Standing Plans
ongoing plans that guide activities performed repeatedly
- Policies
- Rules and regulations
Contingency Factors in Planning
- level in the organization
- degree of environmental uncertianty
- contingency factors in planning
- Tesla commits to producing electric cars for decades into the future
Approaches to Planning
- Top-down traditional approach
- Development by organizational members
Traditional Objective Setting
- setting objectives in which top managers set objectives
- flow down through the organization
- become subgoals for each organizational area
Management by objectives (MBO)
- setting mutually agreed-upon goals
- using those goals to evaluate employee performance