What does Planning mean?
The process of setting objectives and determining how to accomplish them.
Planning involves deciding exactly what you want to accomplish and the best way to go about it.
Explain the planning process.
- Define your objective.
- Determine where you in relation to objectives.
- Develop premises regarding future conditions.
- Analyse and choose among alternative action.
- Implement the plan and evaluate the results.
What types of plans are used by managers?
Strategic Plans : Define mission, long term goals, strategy and set action directions. Situations may arise that require immediate adjustments to solve problem or exploit opportunities, in order to advance the overall strategy
Operational Plans : what needs to be done in the short term to progress strategic objectives. Typical organisational plans may include
Production plans
Financial plans
Facilities plans
Marketing plans
Human resource plans
Explain the strategic management process.
Strategy Foundation |
1. Identify and analyse current Mission, Objectives, Strategies
2. Analyse external and internal environments
3. Revise mission and objectives. Select new strategies.
Strategy Implementation |
4. Implement strategies
5. Evaluate results
What is a mission statement?
- It identifies the domain in which the organisation intends to operate, including customers, products and /or services, location and strategy
- Should communicate the underlying philosophy that will guide employees
- It directs organisation’s choices about plans, goals and activities
What are the core values of the “Mission, Values and Objectives”?
- Represent the shared beliefs of what is important among the employees of an organisation.
- Providing guiding principles that help individuals make decisions and take actions consistent with vision and mission.
- Organisational Culture
- The system of shared belief and values that develops within an organisation and guides the behaviour of its members
- The presence of strong core values helps build institutional identity, giving an organisation character in the eyes of its employees and external stake holders
Name examples of “Mission, Values and Objectives”
Peter Drucker
- Profitability
- Market share
- Human talent
- Financial health
- Cost efficiency
- Product quality
- Innovation
- Social responsibility
- Sustainability
What is a ‘S M A R T’ goal ?
S Specific (an objective needs to clearly defined) M Measurable (must be exact measured through some means) A Actionable (authority and resources must be provided) R Reasonable (unrealistic objectives are a disincentive) T Timetabled (milestone dates or deadlines)
Name the Definition and Levels of strategy.
- Plan of action that determine s resources allocation and other activities for dealing with the environment and helping the organisation to attain their goals.
- Corporate strategy: sets long-term direction for whole enterprise
- Business strategy: identifies how a division or strategic business unit will compete in its product or service domain
- Strategic business unit (SBU): a major business area that operates with some autonomy
- Functional strategy: guides activities within one specific area of operations
Explain Growth as a corporate strategy.
Growth Strategies involve expansion of the organisations current operations.
- Growth through concentration is within the same business area.
- Growth through diversification is by acquisition of or investment in new different business areas.
- Growth through vertical integration is by acquiring suppliers or distributors
What are Restructuring and Divestiture Strategies?
- When there are performance problemsin an organisations, a retrenchment strategy may be used to reduce the scale of current operations
- Liquidation: cease due to complete sale of assets/bankruptcy
- Restructuring: changes scale and/or mix of operations to improve efficiency/performance
- Downsizing: decreases the size of operations with the intention of becoming more streamlined
- Divestiture: sells off parts of organisation to focus attention and resources on core business areas.
Name 4 different strategies.
Differentiation Strategy - offers products that are unique and different from the competition.
Cost Leadership Strategy - seeks to operate with lower cost than competitors (i.e. Pak’N Save)
Focused Differentiation Strategy - offers unique product to a special market segment (i.e. Ferrari)
Focused Cost Leadership Startegy - seeks the lowest cost of operations within a special market segment (i.e. Suzuki)
Name 3 different Strategy Implementation.
- Management practices and systems :
from planning and controlling through organizing and leading must be mobilised to support strategies - Corporate governance :
the system of control and performance monitoring of top management - Strategic leadership :
the capability to enthuse people to successfully engage in process of continuous change performance enhancement and implementation of organisational startegies
