ZeePedia

THE PLANNING PROCESS:Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats

<< THE PRODUCTIVITY:Responding to the Productivity Challenge, Domestic Productivity
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT:Planning for Quality, Controlling for Quality >>
img
Introduction to Business ­MGT 211
VU
Lesson 36
THE PLANNING PROCESS
Planning is the process by which you determine whether you should attempt the task, work out
the most effective way of reaching your target, and prepare to overcome unexpected
difficulties with adequate resources. It is the start of the process by which you turn empty
dreams into achievements. It helps you to avoid the trap of working extremely hard but
achieving little.
Planning is an up-front investment in success- by applying the planning process effectively you
can:
·
Avoid wasting effort: It is easy to spend large amounts of time on activities that in
retrospect prove to be irrelevant to the success of the project. Alternatively you can
miss deadlines by not assessing the order in which dependent jobs should be carried
out. Planning helps you to achieve the maximum effect from a given effort.
·
Take into account all factors, and focus on the critical ones:
This ensures that you are aware of the implications of what you want to do, and that you are
prepared for all reasonable eventualities.
·
Be aware of all changes that will need to be made:
If you know these, then you can assess in advance the likelihood of being able to make those
changes, and take action to ensure that they will be successful.
·
Gather the resources needed:
This ensures that the project will not fail or suffer for lack of a critical resource.
·
Carry out the task in the most efficient way possible:
So that you conserve your own resources, avoid wasting ecological resources, make a fair
profit and are seen as an effective, useful person. The formal procedure of applying the
planning process helps you to:
·
Take stock of your current position. Identify precisely what is to be achieved.
·
Detail precisely and cost the who, what, when, where, why and how of achieving your
target.
·
Assess the impact of your plan on your organization and the people within it, and on the
outside world.
·
Evaluate whether the effort, costs and implications of achieving your plan are worth the
achievement.
·
Consider the control mechanisms, whether reporting, quality or cost control, etc. that
are needed to achieve your plan and keep it on course. Pareto You may have heard of
one approach to the Pareto principle: that 80% of a job is completed in 20% of the
time. Another application in an non-planning environment is that 80% of the effort tends
to achieve 20% of the results. By thinking and planning we can reverse this to 20% of
the effort achieving 80% of the results. We may even decide that it is more efficient not
to attempt the remaining work at all!
134
img
Introduction to Business ­MGT 211
VU
How to Spot what needs to be done
Planning may be done on a routine basis or may need to be carried out as a result of new
ideas, poor performance or pressure from customers or the organization's environment. This
section examines how you can clarify the problems and opportunities that face you.
New Ideas --- One simple approach to generating ideas is to look at what irritates you in your
life and what seems unnecessarily laborious and tedious. Often this will prompt ideas for
improvements, whether these are administrative changes in your organization or are ideas for
new consumer products or services.
SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
A more systematic method is to use SWOT Analysis to detail and examine your organization's
Strengths and Weaknesses, and to examine the Opportunities and Threats it faces. Often
carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework will be enough to reveal the changes
which can be usefully made. To carry out a SWOT Analysis for yourself or your organization,
write down answers to the following questions:
Strengths:
·  What are your advantages?
·  What do you do well?
·  Consider this from your own point of view and from the point of view of your
customers or the people who rely on you. Don't be modest, be realistic. If you are
having any difficulty with this, try writing down a list of your or your organization's
characteristics. Some of these will hopefully be strengths!
Weaknesses:
·  What could be improved?
·  What is done badly?
·  What should be avoided?
·  Again this should be considered form an internal and external basis - do your
customers perceive weaknesses that you don't see? Do your competitors do any
better? Again it is best to be realistic now, and face any unpleasant truths at this stage
in the planning process.
Opportunities
·  Where are the good chances facing you?
·  What are the interesting trends?
·  Useful opportunities can come from such things as:
·  Changes in technology and markets on both a broad and industry-specific scale.
·  Changes in government policy related to your field.
·  Changes in social patterns, population profiles, lifestyle changes, etc.
Threats
·  What obstacles do you face?
·  What is your competition doing?
·  Are the required specifications for your products and services changing?
·  Is changing technology threatening your position?
·  Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?
·  Carrying out this analysis is will often be illuminating - both in terms of pointing out
what needs to be done, and in pointing out that problems may be smaller than initially
anticipated
135
Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:CONCEPT OF BUSINESS, KINDS OF INDSTRY, TYPES OF TRADE
  2. ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES AND ENVIRONMENTS:THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
  3. BUSINESS ORGANIZATION:Sole Proprietorship, Joint Stock Company, Combination
  4. SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS:ADVANTAGES OF SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP
  5. PARTNERSHIP AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS:ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF PARTNERSHIP
  6. PARTNERSHIP (Continued):KINDS OF PARTNERS, PARTNERSHIP AT WILL
  7. PARTNERSHIP (Continued):PARTNESHIP AGREEMENT, CONCLUSION, DUTIES OF PARTNERS
  8. ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES AND ENVIRONMENTS:ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
  9. JOINT STOCK COMPANY:PRIVATE COMPANY, PROMOTION STAGE, INCORPORATION STAGE
  10. LEGAL DOCUMENTS ISSUED BY A COMPANY:MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION, CONTENTS OF ARTICLES
  11. WINDING UP OF COMPANY:VOLUNTARY WIDNIGN UP, KINDS OF SHARE CAPITAL
  12. COOPERATIVE SOCIETY:ADVANTAGES OF COOPERATIVE SOCIETY
  13. WHO ARE MANAGERS?:THE MANAGEMENT PROCESS, BASIC MANAGEMENT SKILLS
  14. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT:Human Resource Planning
  15. STAFFING:STAFFING THE ORGANIZATION
  16. STAFF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT:Typical Topics of Employee Training, Training Methods
  17. BUSINESS MANAGER’S RESPONSIBILITY PROFILE:Accountability, Specific responsibilities
  18. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:THE LEGAL CONTEXT OF HR MANAGEMENT, DEALING WITH ORGANIZED LABOR
  19. COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS (Continued):MOTIVATION IN THE WORKPLACE
  20. STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING JOB SATISFACTION AND MORALE
  21. MANAGERIAL STYLES AND LEADERSHIP:Changing Patterns of Leadership
  22. MARKETING:What Is Marketing?, Marketing: Providing Value and Satisfaction
  23. THE MARKETING ENVIRONMENT:THE MARKETING MIX, Product differentiation
  24. MARKET RESEARCH:Market information, Market Segmentation, Market Trends
  25. MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS:Select the research design, Collecting and analyzing data
  26. MARKETING RESEARCH:Data Warehousing and Data Mining
  27. LEARNING EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS EARNING LOWER LEVEL CREDIT:Discussion Topics, Market Segmentation
  28. UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:The Consumer Buying Process
  29. THE DISTRIBUTION MIX:Intermediaries and Distribution Channels, Distribution of Business Products
  30. PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION:Transportation Operations, Distribution as a Marketing Strategy
  31. PROMOTION:Information and Exchange Values, Promotional Strategies
  32. ADVERTISING PROMOTION:Advertising Strategies, Advertising Media
  33. PERSONAL SELLING:Personal Selling Situations, The Personal Selling Process
  34. SALES PROMOTIONS:Publicity and Public Relations, Promotional Practices in Small Business
  35. THE PRODUCTIVITY:Responding to the Productivity Challenge, Domestic Productivity
  36. THE PLANNING PROCESS:Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats
  37. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT:Planning for Quality, Controlling for Quality
  38. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (continued):Tools for Total Quality Management
  39. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (continued):Process Re-engineering, Emphasizing Quality of Work Life
  40. BUSINESS IN DIGITAL AGE:Types of Information Systems, Telecommunications and Networks
  41. NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION MODES:Body Movement, Facial Expressions
  42. BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS:Organization as a System
  43. ACCOUNTING:Accounting Information System, Financial versus Managerial Accounting
  44. TOOLS OF THE ACCOUNTING TRADE:Double-Entry Accounting, Assets
  45. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT:The Role of the Financial Manager, Short-Term (Operating) Expenditures