summative assignment
jennyswufe
module4.zipmodule 4/.DS_Store
__MACOSX/module 4/._.DS_Store
module 4/Lesson 1: The Importance of Planning: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
Lesson 1: The Importance of Planning In this lesson, we will begin to explore the importance of planning to the success of an organization. We will learn about the planning process and its benefits and analyze the importance of creativity in planning.
In module 1, we learned that the job of all managers focuses on four fundamental functions:
Leading, Planning, Organizing, Controlling.
Planning is a proactive process of setting performance objectives and deciding how to meet those objectives. If you plan effectively, you can reduce the time and effort needed to achieve performance objectives. With careful planning, you are more likely to see and to anticipate problems before they happen. Planning bridges the gap between where the business is now, and where it wants to be.
A typical planning process involves these basic steps: (1) Define your objectives. (2) Evaluate your current position relative to the desired results. (3) Brainstorm alternative scenarios and courses of action. (4) Analyse and choose among alternative courses of action. (5) Create plan, policies, and procedures. (6) Implement the plan and evaluate the results.
Planning should be ongoing rather than something that happens only periodically. Creativity is essential to good planning and ensures that the best possible ideas are considered. Good managers consider creative options and seek input from other individuals.
Required Reading
(h!ps://brightmindsonlineschool.instructure.com/courses/172/files/6828/download?wrap=1)
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Benefits of planning
Good planning is essential in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world. Planning provides the following benefits to an organization. (1) Flexibility: A well-designed plan allows for flexibility and enables an organization to adapt to changing circumstances. By anticipating and planning for challenges and opportunities, a business can hopefully avoid or minimize crises. The focus is on the future rather than the past. (2) Coordination: A plan will ensure that all individuals in the organization are working toward unified goals or objectives. It ties all parts of the organization’s work together. (3) Time Management: Planning allows employees to prioritize their work. There is rarely enough time in a day to complete each and every task. Plans help people within a business to know which tasks are top priorities and which tasks are low priorities.
__MACOSX/module 4/._Lesson 1: The Importance of Planning: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
module 4/Lesson 2: Planning Tools and Techniques: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
Lesson 2: Planning Tools and Techniques In this lesson, we will learn about tools and strategies used in the planning process. We will compare Short-Term Planning and Long-Term Planning. We will also use a time-management tool to examine our own time management skills.
Planning Tools and Strategies
Managers use one or more of the following tools or strategies to create plans:
(1) Participatory Planning: While managers are ultimately responsible for planning, they often choose to involve their team members in the planning process. Participatory Planning includes the people who will be affected by the plans and/or the people who will be implementing the plan. This planning strategy recognizes diversity and respects differences.
(2) Forecasting
Forecasting is an attempt to predict what will happen in the future. For Quantitative forecasting, mathematical models are used that predict the future usually based on past results. Qualitative forecasts about future events are made using the knowledge and opinions of experts. Forecasts are useful planning aids, but they must be used with caution since they can be wrong.
(3) Benchmarking: Benchmarking involves comparing the performance and plans of the business against an industry standard or best practice. This comparison allows the business to develop plans on how to make improvements or adopt best practices. Measurement is the central focus of the benchmarking process. Therefore, benchmarking typically focuses on those activities that can easily lend themselves to measurements, such as production volumes and sales. In some cases, organizational attributes are translated into elements that can be meaningfully measured and compared.
(4) Contingency Planning: Contingency Planning identifies alternative courses of action that can be followed if circumstances change. You cannot always predict what will go wrong, but you can usually anticipate that something will. Whenever possible, it is best to be prepared with alternate plans.
(5) Scenario Planning: Scenario planning is used largely by businesses that have to make expensive long-term decisions in uncertain situations. It is an adaptation of methods used by the military. Scenario Planning is not about predicting the future; rather it is intended to describe what is possible. Ideally, scenarios should be constructed by a diverse group of people for a specific purpose. Here is an example of how Shell, a leader in the business world, used Scenario Planning.
Short-Term Planning vs. Long-Term Planning
One way to categorize a plan is according to the length of time the plan covers. All organizations need both Short-Term and Long-Term Plans.
Another way to categorize plans is by their type or purpose.
(1) Strategic Plans set the broad, long-term directions for a business. Strategic planning is examined in depth in our next lesson.
(2) Budgets are financial plans that allocate resources to specific projects, departments, or activities.
(3) Operational plans identify specific activities that are needed to implement strategic plans. An organization has many operational plans, e.g., production plans, financial plans, facilities plans, marketing plans, and human resources plans.
Time is a finite resource in every business and it
must be carefully managed. The key to successful
!me management is planning and then protec!ng
the planned !me. For managers, !me management
requires diploma!cally managing the expecta!ons
of others. There is a fine balance between making
yourself available to others at work and ensuring
that their demands don’t take an inordinate amount
of your !me.
of your !me.
(1) Use a time management matrix. This technique will enable you to challenge and question your own habits, routines, and practices. (2) Decide when to look at your emails and instant messages. (3) Use a diary or activity planner. (4) Create a weekly schedule.
Time Management Matrix
One of the seven habits in Stephen Covey’s best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People) , is “Put First Things First.” He discusses the importance of effective time management and explains how every task that you do in a day can be placed in one of the four quadrants of the time management matrix.
__MACOSX/module 4/._Lesson 2: Planning Tools and Techniques: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
module 4/Lesson 3: Strategic Planning: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
Lesson 3: Strategic Planning Today, we will examine the importance of the strategic planning process and describe the levels of Strategic Planning. We will learn about the different types of strategic plans and learn about the management tools used in Strategic Planning.
A Strategic Plan is a coordinated and systematic direction for an organization. Strategic Planning determines where an organization is going and how it's going to get there. In today’s highly competitive business environment, a solid Strategic Plan is essential to the success of a business.
The Strategic Planning Process
The basic steps in the planning process outlined in the first activity are restated here in terms of Strategic Planning.
Management Tools for Analysis
The second step of the process is to analyze the internal and external environment. There are three commonly used methods for doing this analysis.
(1) SWOT Analysis includes both an internal analysis of organizational strengths and weaknesses as well as an analysis of the external opportunities and threats. Successful organizations use their strengths to create strategies that take advantage of opportunities and minimize threats.
(2) PEST Analysis is a tool to examine the external factors that provide opportunities and threats to an organization. Because these factors are beyond the organization’s control and may represent threats, the acronym PEST is used.
Political factors include political stability, trade regulations, taxation, labor laws, and safety regulations. These factors vary widely from country to country. Economic factors include economic growth, stagnation, recession, interest rates, exchange rates, and inflation. Social factors include demographics and cultural aspects, e.g., health consciousness, population growth, age distribution, education, and attitudes to work and leisure. Technological factors include new discoveries and developments, rates of technological obsolescence, changes in information technology, and research and development activity.
(3) Porter's Five Forces refers to a model developed by Michael E. Porter in his book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors in 1980. Like SWOT and PEST analysis, Porter’s model develops incorporate strategies to meet opportunities and threats in the organization’s external environment. Porter identifies five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market.
1. Competitors are the existing competitive rivalry within the industry. 2. New entrants involve the threat from new market entrants. 3. Customers mean the bargaining power of buyers. 4. Suppliers are the bargaining power of suppliers.
4. Suppliers are the bargaining power of suppliers. 5. Substitutes are the threat of substitute products which includes technology change.
Levels of Strategic Planning
Many of today’s large corporations are conglomerates composed of several businesses or several product lines. Large corporations have three levels of strategy that must all work together to accomplish the organization’s objectives: corporate, business, and functional.
Types of Strategic Plans
Three common types of strategies that businesses choose to pursue are growth, retrenchment, and e- business strategies.
(1) A Growth Strategy involves expanding current operations. One growth strategy is expanding in the same industry, e.g., Tim Horton’s opens more stores, all of them selling the same products. This is called concentration. Another growth strategy is vertical integration which means expansion by buying suppliers or distributors, e.g., a meat processing company buying farms (suppliers) or grocery stores (distributors). A third growth strategy is diversification which means buying or starting businesses in other industries. Rogers Communications Inc. is an example of a diversified Canadian corporation.
other industries. Rogers Communications Inc. is an example of a diversified Canadian corporation.
(2) A Retrenchment Strategy is used when an organization is in crisis. It seeks to correct weaknesses by making changes to current business practices. Restructuring and downsizing are two commonly used terms for retrenchment strategies.
(3) An e-business Strategy is the use of the Internet to become more successful. Businesses can use Internet technology to buy materials from their suppliers and to sell products to their customers. Even businesses who don’t sell goods or services online will use the Internet for advertising, collecting information, and distributing information.
__MACOSX/module 4/._Lesson 3: Strategic Planning: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
module 4/Lesson 4: Corporate Culture: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
Lesson 4: Corporate Culture In this lesson, we will analyze the two levels of corporate culture: core and observable.
Corporate Culture
Corporate culture, also known as organizational culture, is often described as the "the way we do things around here". It is the combined beliefs, values, ethics, procedures, and atmosphere of an organization. Corporate culture consists of largely unspoken values, norms, and behaviors that become the natural way of doing things. An organization's culture may be more apparent to an outsider than an insider.
Levels of Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is composed of two levels: observable culture and core culture.
Observable Culture is what you see and hear when you walk around an organization. It is found in the following four elements of daily organization life:
1. Stories are the oral histories and tales, told and retold among members, about dramatic sagas and incidents in the life of the organization.
2. Heroes are the people singled out for special attention and whose accomplishments are recognized with praise and admiration among members. They include founders and role models.
3. Rites and rituals are the ceremonies and meetings, planned and spontaneous which celebrate important occasions and performance accomplishments.
4. Symbols are the special use of language and other non-verbal expressions to communicate important themes of organizational skills.
Core Culture consists of the values and beliefs that shape and guide people’s behavior. These core values contribute to the observable culture in an organization.
__MACOSX/module 4/._Lesson 4: Corporate Culture: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
module 4/Lesson 5: The Management of Change: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
Lesson 5: The Management of Change Today, we will learn about the elements that bring about change and the challenges facing today's organizations. We will analyze the various attitudes towards change and examine how managers bring about acceptance of planned change.
Change Happens
Change is not only something that happens to an organization, change is something that organizations should actively seek out. The successful businesses in the 21st century will be innovative businesses. Innovation is linked closely to creativity. It involves taking new ideas and turning them into reality. Ideas come from the minds of creative individuals. Therefore, great managers nurture and encourage innovation, creativity, and resourcefulness in their employees. An innovative organization will have a strategy and culture that promote positive change.
What Brings about Change in an Organiza!on?
External forces for change include: (1) Developments in information technology; (2) Increased market competition; (3) Economic conditions, e.g., unemployment, availability of credit, and interest rates; (4) Government laws and regulations, e.g., workplace safety standards, access for people with disabilities, and pay equity; (5) Social forces, values; and (6) Globalization.
Internal forces for change include: (1) Implementation of a growth plan; (2) Evolution of the organizational culture; (3) Change in key management positions; (4) Downsizing or restructuring; and (5) Merger or acquisition.
A"tudes Towards Change
Here are the reasons people may fear and oppose a change in an organization:
Fear of losing something they value. Don’t think that the change makes sense or understand its benefits. Find it difficult to cope with either the level or pace of the change.
Find it difficult to cope with either the level or pace of the change. May not have the time or resources to cope with the change. Feel inadequate because the old way is not “good enough”. Feel a loss of control.
Not everyone opposes or fears change. What about those individuals who embrace change without any convincing?
The change management process has four major phases:
(1) Preparation is the development of a foundation upon which to build employee commitment to the change effort. Preparation involves identification of values and goals from which support for change will naturally emerge. (2) Acceptance involves working to gain support for a specific course of action. (3) Implementation deals with the actual changes to business processes and technology. (4) Commitment calls for work to sustain support for the changes.
__MACOSX/module 4/._Lesson 5: The Management of Change: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
module 4/Lesson 6: The Importance of Control: Business Leadership: Management Fundamentals.pdf
Lesson 6: The Importance of Control Today, we will examine the importance of control in management. We will look at the steps in the control process and discover the three types of control systems used by organizations: feedforward, concurrent, feedback.
The Purpose of Control
Controlling is the process of measuring performance and taking the necessary action to make sure standards and objectives are met. How does controlling fit in with the other three management functions?
Planning involves setting the direction and deciding how you will get there. Organizing is bringing people and material resources together in working combinations. Leading means inspiring people to best utilize these resources. Controlling is checking to see if the plan is being followed by measuring actual results and taking corrective action when necessary.
Steps in the Control Process
Step 1 Set Performance Objectives and Standards.
Establish objectives and standards as part of the planning process. Describe standards as the conditions that must exist before the performance can be rated satisfactory. Establish objectives that are broader in scope and go beyond day-to-day standards.
Step 2 Measure Actual Performance.
Measurement must be accurate enough to catch differences between the planned and actual performance.
Step 3 Compare Actual Performance Against Established Standards.
Decide how much variance from the standard is acceptable. Determine if action is needed.
Step 4 Take Corrective Actions as Necessary.
When standards are not met, it is important to find out why. When standards are met and exceeded, this is a good time to offer employees positive reinforcement.
Types of Control Systems
Control can focus on events before, during, or after a process. The corresponding types of managerial controls are called:
Feedforward Controls focus on the control of inputs, i.e., human, material, and financial resources that flow into the organization, to ensure that they meet the necessary standards. These controls are sometimes called preliminary controls or preventive controls since their focus is preventing problems before they occur. They allow a manager to take action before getting too far away from the plan. One common example of a Feedforward Control is the careful hiring and training of new employees. Concurrent Controls monitor employees’ work to ensure consistency with performance standards, rules, and regulations. These controls take place while an activity is in progress and are designed to ensure that employee work produces the expected results. Concurrent Control sometimes is called Screening Control. It often involves checkpoints at which decisions are made about whether to continue progress, take corrective action, or stop work altogether. The focus is to solve problems while they are occurring. Direct supervision of employee work is the most common Concurrent Control. Feedback Controls involve reviewing information to determine whether performance meets established standards. They are sometimes called Output Controls because they focus on the outputs of the organization after processing or production is complete. They may be used when Feedforward and Concurrent Controls are not feasible or too costly.
Feedback has two advantages over Feedforward and Concurrent Controls. First, Feedback provides managers with meaningful information on the effectiveness of the planning effort. If Feedback indicates little variance between standard and actual performance, this is evidence that planning is generally on target. If there is a large variance, a manager can use this information when formulating new plans to make them more effective. Second, Feedback Control can be used to enhance employees’ motivation.
The major drawback of this type of control is that problems can be addressed only after they occur. By the time the manager has the information, the damage is already done. Feedback Control is considered the least optimal control method since the undesirable events already occurred well before the control function is initiated. Asking restaurant customers “How did you like your meal?” after they finished eating is an example of a Feedback Control.
