This document discusses planning and the planning process. It covers the purpose of planning, setting objectives, developing plans, and types of plans. It also discusses potential pitfalls in planning. The document is from a course on planning and was presented by the instructor, Michael Crandall, covering elements of the planning process like developing premises, choosing goals and actions, and assessing future consequences.

1. Planning
Module 4
LIS 580: Spring, 2006
Instructor- Michael Crandall

2. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 2
Roadmap
• Purpose of planning
• The planning process
• Setting objectives
• Building planning premises
• Developing plans
• Types of plans
• Planning pitfalls

3. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 3
Purpose of Planning
Manager
s engage
in
planning
to:
Set the standards
to facilitate control
Provide
direction
Minimize waste and
redundancy
Reduce the
impact of change
Prentice Hall, 2002

4. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 4
Elements Of Planning
• Plan
– A method for doing or making something,
consisting of at least one goal and a predefined
course of action for achieving that goal.
• Goal
– A specific result to be achieved; the end result
of a plan.
• Objectives
– Specific results toward which effort is directed.
G.Dessler, 2003

5. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 5
Elements Of Planning (cont’d)
• Planning
– The process of setting goals and courses of action,
developing rules and procedures, and forecasting
future outcomes.
• What Planning Entails
– Choosing goals and courses of action and deciding
now what to do in the future to achieve those
goals.
– Assessing today the consequences of various
future courses of action.
G.Dessler, 2003

6. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 6
What Planning Accomplishes
• Allows decisions to be made ahead of time.
• Permits anticipation of consequences.
• Provides direction and a sense of purpose.
• Provides a unifying framework; avoiding
piecemeal decision making.
• Helps identify threats and opportunities and
reduces risks.
• Facilitates managerial control through the
setting of standards for monitoring and
measuring performance.
G.Dessler, 2003

7. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 7
The Management Planning
Process
• Hierarchy of Plans
– A set of plans that includes the company-wide plan
and the derivative plans of subsidiary units
required to help achieve the enterprise-wide plan.
– Top management approves a long-term plan; and
each department creates its own budgets
• The Planning Hierarchy
– Top management formulates its plans based on
upward feedback from the departments, and the
departments in turn draft plans that make sense in
terms of top management’s plan.
G.Dessler, 2003

8. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 8
Hierarchy of Goals
FIGURE 4–1
G.Dessler, 2003

9. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 9
Who Does the Planning?
• Small businesses:
– Entrepreneurs do most of the planning.
• Large firms:
– Traditional:
• A central corporate planning group works with
top management and each division to solicit,
challenge, and refine the company’s plan.
– Current:
• Planning is decentralized and includes the firms’
product and divisional managers, aided by small
headquarters advisory groups.
G.Dessler, 2003

10. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 10
Checklist 4.1
How to Develop a Plan
 Set an objective.
 Develop forecasts and planning
premises.
 Determine your options.
 Evaluate alternatives.
 Choose your plan, and start to
implement it.
 Go to Level 2.
G.Dessler, 2003
} The decision-
making process

11. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 11
Setting Objectives
G.Dessler, 2003

12. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 12
Checklist 4.2
Principles of Goal-Setting
 Set SMART goals—make them specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and
timely. Choose areas (sales revenue, costs,
and so forth) that are relevant and
complete.
 Assign specific goals.
 Assign measurable goals.
 Assign doable but challenging goals.
 Encourage participation.
 Use executive assignment action plans, or
management by objectives.
G.Dessler, 2003

13. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 13
Forecasts and Planning Premises
• Forecasting is used to predict future requirements and
opportunities
– Determines the premises on which planning is based
– Can be quantitative (e.g., a time series) or qualitative (e.g.,
jury of executive opinion)
• Marketing research
• Competitive intelligence
– Helps build the picture of what others are doing to inform the
planning process
• Next step is the decision-making process we talked
about yesterday
• Finally, you begin to build your plans (usually more
than one to realize objectives)

14. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 14
The Business Plan And Its
Components
• Description of the business (including
ownership and products or services)
• Marketing plan
• Financial plan
• Management
and/or personnel plan.
G.Dessler, 2003

15. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 15
FIGURE 4–3
Outline of a Marketing Plan
Source:
Adapted from
Philip Kotler and
Gary Armstrong,
Principles of
Marketing (Upper
Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice
Hall, 2001), p.
70. G.Dessler, 2003

16. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 16
FIGURE 4–4
Acme’s Potential Market Segments
Source: Business Plan Pro, Palo Alto Software, Palo Alto, CA.
G.Dessler, 2003

17. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 17
FIGURE 4–5
Product, Pricing, and Sales Forecasts
Source: Business Plan Pro, Palo Alto Software, Palo Alto, CA. G.Dessler, 2003

18. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 18
FIGURE 4–6
Personnel Plan
Source: Business Plan Pro, Palo Alto Software, Palo Alto, CA.
G.Dessler, 2003

19. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 19
FIGURE 4–7
Sales Forecast by Service: Two-Month
Sales Plan for Acme Consulting, 2003
G.Dessler, 2003

20. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 20
FIGURE 4–8
Gantt Scheduling Chart for Acme
Strategic Report Projects, Jan 1–15, 2003
G.Dessler, 2003

21. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 21
FIGURE 4–9
Acme Consulting Profit and Loss
Source: Business Plan
Pro, Palo Alto Software,
Palo Alto, CA. G.Dessler, 2003

22. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 22
G.Dessler, 2003

23. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 23
G.Dessler, 2003

24. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 24
Types of Plans
Type of
Plan
Time
Frame
Specificity
Frequency
of Use
Strategic Long Term Directional Single Use
Tactical Short Term Specific Standing
Operational Ongoing
Very
detailed
Day-to-day
Policies,
procedures,
and rules
Varies Varies Varies
G Dessler, 2003

25. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 25
FIGURE 4–10
Reporting Improper Behavior
Source:
James Jenks,
The Hiring,
Firing (and
everything in
between)
Personnel
Forms Book
(Ridgefield,
CT: Round
Lake
Publishing,
1996), pp.
224–25. G.Dessler, 2003

26. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 26
Pitfalls of Planning
• Planning may create rigidity
• Plans cannot be developed for a dynamic
environment
• Formal plans cannot replace intuition and
creativity
• Planning focuses managers’ attention on
today’s competition, not tomorrow’s survival
• Formal planning reinforces success, which
may lead to failure
Prentice Hall, 2002

27. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 27
Elmer L. Anderson Library
• What did the planners do right in this effort?
• Was the design a result of research or
creativity?
• How was the planning process affected by
stakeholder needs?
• How much of the planning was related to
political activities and how much to actual
construction activity?
• How was success measured for the project?

28. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 28
Extreme Chaos
• Better project success rates due to
lower costs and smaller projects
• Difficulty of estimating costs and
schedules accurately
– Often tripled up front to avoid failure
– Old metrics not appropriate to modern
methods
– Difficult to establish benchmarks
• Different skills for different roles

29. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 29
Project Success Factors

30. April 6, 2006 LIS580- Spring 2006 30
Next Time
• Strategic planning
– Read Chapter 5 and Cleveland Public Library
Strategic Plan
• Discussion questions:
– How has the Gold Coast City Council been able to
use evidence to aid in strategic planning?
– Do you think their choice of benchmarks will
achieve the overall objectives?
– Are there any risks in using these measures in
deciding on long-term changes in structure?
– Do you think the library staff is engaged in this
process? Should they be?