罗宾斯管理学双语教学讲稿9

Nine

Planning Tools and Techniques

1. INTRODUCTION.

This chapter introduces a number of the basic planning tools and techniques that managers can use.

2. TECHNIQUES FOR ASSESSING THE ENVIRONMENT.

Several techniques have been developed to assist managers in assessing the organization’s environment.

A. Environmental scanning.

Environmental scanning is the screening of large amounts of

information to anticipate and interpret changes in the environment. It’s

used by both large and small organizations, and research has shown that

companies with advanced environmental scanning systems increased

their profits and revenue growth.

petitor intelligence fastest growing environmental scanning

activity that seeks to identify who competitors are, what they are

doing, and how their actions will affect the organization.

2. Another type of environmental scanning is global scanning in

which managers assess the changes and trends in the global

environment through the gathering of vital global information.

B. Forecasting.

Environmental scanning provides the foundation for developing

forecasts, which are predictions of outcomes.

1. There are two categories of forecasting techniques.

a. Quantitative forecasting applies a set of mathematical

rules to a series of past data to predict outcomes.

b. Qualitative forecasting uses the judgment and opinions

of knowledgeable individuals to predict outcomes.

c. Exhibit 9.1 describes some popular forecasting

techniques.

2. It’s important to look at forecasting effectiveness.

a. Forecasting techniques are most accurate when the

environment is not rapidly changing.

b. Some suggestions for improving forecasting

effectiveness are as follows:

1) Use simple forecasting techniques.

2) Compare every forecast with “no change.”

3) Don’t rely o n a single forecasting method.

4) Don’t assume that you can accurately identify

turning points in a trend.

5) Shorten the length of the forecasts.

6) Forecasting is a managerial skill and can be

practiced and improved.

C. Benchmarking.

Benchmarking is the search for the best practices among competitors or

noncompetitors that lead to their superior performance.

1. The benchmarking process typically follows four steps. (See

Exhibit 9.2)

a. A benchmarking planning team is formed. The team’s

initial task is to identify what is to be benchmarked,

identify comparative organizations, and determine data

collection methods.

b. The team collects internal and external data.

c. The data is analyzed to identify performance gaps and to

determine the cause of the difference.

d. An action plan is prepared and implemented.

3. TECHNIQUES FOR ALLOCATING RESOURCES.

Resources are the assets of the organization and include financial, physical, human, intangible, and structural.

A. Budgeting.

A budget is a numerical plan for allocating resources to specific

activities. Budgets are popular because they’re applicable to a wide

variety of organizations and units within an organization.

B. Scheduling

Scheduling involves a list of necessary activities, their order of

completion, who is to do each, and time needed to complete them. Some

useful scheduling tools include the following.

1. The Gantt chart, named after Henry Gantt, is a scheduling chart

that visually shows actual and planned output over a period of

time. (See Exhibit 9-5)

2. A load chart is a modified Gantt chart that schedules capacity

by work areas. (See Exhibit 9-6.)

3. PERT (program evaluation and review technique) Network

Analysis is a technique for scheduling complicated projects

comprising many activities, some of which are interdependent.

a. A PERT network is a flowchart like diagram that

depicts the sequence of activities needed to complete a

project and the time or costs associated with each

activity.

b. The steps in developing a PERT network are outlined in

Exhibit 9.7 and involve the following terms:

1) Events are end points that represent the

completion of major activities in a PERT

network.

2) Activities,which are the time or resources

required to progress from one event to another

in a PERT network.

3) Slack time is the amount of time an individual

activity can be delayed without delaying the

whole project.