Module 04 Project - Production Cost Methods

11/18/17

Planning is an integral ingredient of good performance for any organization. It is therefore prudent to have a sound blue print on the procedures for implementation of the actions sought to be accomplished. The basic and most important elements of a planning include and not limited to; setting objectives, actions towards achieving the objectives, allocating resources, implementation of the objectives and evaluation to ensure objectives have been fully followed. The planning procedure is discussed below using one of the leading companies.

Ford Motor Company is an automobile manufacturing entity. Its main aim is to ensure people are working together as a lean, and becoming a global enterprise to make people’s lives better through automotive and mobility leadership. To ensure sustained growth of the company, Ford Motor Company management comes up with a plan to ensure a certain goal is achieved within a certain set timeline. One of the major aim of the company is production of great automobile products. This aim is segmented further into four objectives. Firstly improving quality of design and manufacture and services. Secondly ensuring implementation of innovations that ensure safety of their customers and their families. Thirdly, embracing a green economy by ensuring carbon emissions are reduced to the minimum hence sustainability of the environment. Lastly, embrace a smart and efficient industry through innovations. One that both that strengthens their products as well as digitizes the industry.

The next step is coming up with a course of actions towards achieving the objectives. Within each objective, sub-objectives are drafted and timelines for each to ensure efficiency of the whole process. For example, a specific objective under safety would be coming up with a survey to understand areas that customers mostly prefer to be improved for their safety.

Having set up an action plan, the next step is allocation of resources. At this stage each objective receives its own budget allocation and committees are set up for each goal with a leader, mostly a departmental head to steer the committee towards achieving preliminary goals and ultimately the major objective. The committee decides what is to be allocated where and when using standard operating procedures for verification. The committee is in charge of the whole process and ensuring the actions are monitored to ensure they are in line with the set up objectives. It gives a report on its progress in board meetings.

Having allocated resources it’s time to implement what has been planned. This involves obtaining the required expertise and tools of implementation of the course of action. This would be through sensitization campaigns on the employees on the planned objectives and detailing specific roles of each employee in realization of the main aim of the organization. For instance in the quality objective new and high quality vehicles would be manufactured.

At the end of the implementation phase, an independent body is set up to evaluate whether the objectives of the company were met and if not where to improve.

References:

1. Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. 1989. Making fast strategic decisions in high-velocity environments. Academy of Management Journal 32 (3): 543-576.

2. Dess, Gregory G. 1987. Consensus on strategy formulation and organizational performance: competitors in a fragmented industry. Strategic Management Journal 8: 259-277.