Deb Joffrion October 21, 2014

Chapter #8
#2.) Discuss the contingency factors that affect planning.
The contingency factors that affect planning are (1) Organizational level; lower level managers perform
operational planning and upper level managers perform strategic planning? (2) Degree of environmental
uncertainty; when uncertainty is high, plans should be specific, but flexible. Managers must be prepared
to change or amend plans as they're implemented. At times, they may even have to abandon the plans.
(3) The commitment plan; plans should extend far enough to meet those commitments made when the
Plans were developed. Planning for too long or too short a time period is inefficient and ineffective.

#4. If planning is so crucial, why do some managers choose not to do it? What would you tell these
managers?
In the traditional approach to planning, planning is done entirely by top-level managers who often are
assisted by a formal planning department, a group of planning specialists whose sole responsibility is to
help write the various organizational plans. These plans flow down through other organizational levels. As
they flow down through the organization, the plans are tailored to the particular needs of each level.
Although this approach makes managerial planning thorough, systematic and coordinated, all too often the
focus is on developing "the plan" which is a thick binder (or binders) full of meaningless information
that's stuck on a shelf and never used by anyone for guiding or coordinating work efforts. A common
complaint is that, "plans are documents that you prepare for the corporate planning staff and later forget”.
I would explain the importance of creating documents that organizational members actually use, not
documents that look impressive and are ignored. I would also advise top-level managers and the formal
planning department to focus on making plans that are meaningful to lower management so that they
would be encouraged to work the plans with their employees. It is a huge waste of time to write
organizational plans that never get implemented. Why waste everyone’s time if you are not going to
actually implement the plans that are made?

#6.) How might planning in a not-for-profit organization such as the American Cancer Society
differ from planning in a for-profit organization such as Coca-Cola?
I have given this a lot of thought and I don't see where planning in a not-for-profit organization would
differ from planning in a for-profit organization. Although their goals are quite different, they would take
the same steps in planning to achieve those goals. The reasons for planning are the same; to provide
direction, to reduce uncertainty, to minimize waste and redundancy and to establish the goals or standards
used in controlling. They both have to have strategic and organizational goals. They receive income in
different ways, but both organizations are in competition with other organizations offering basically
similar services (products). For-profit and not-for profit organizations use advertising and "gimmicks" to
persuade the public to spend their money on them.

#8.) Many companies have a goal of becoming more environmentally sustainable. One of the most
important steps they can take is controlling paper waste. Choose a company—any type, any size.
You've been put in charge of creating a program to do this for your company. Set goals and develop
plans. Prepare a report for your boss (that is your professor) outlining these goals and plans.
Company: Phillips Petroleum main offices in downtown Bartlesville
Goals: To increase the recycling of paper waste by 75% in the next six months; to get the employees to
commit to the recycling of paper waste by involving them in the process.
Plan: (1) Send email to all employees in the downtown office announcing the great news about a plan
to increase the company’s effectiveness to recycle paper waste and define how the plan will be
implemented.
(2) Place recyclable paper bags at each employee's desk, next to regular garbage can.
(3) Randomly assign an employee from each floor to be the "Recycle King/Queen" to pick up
recyclable paper from employees, including shredders, on their floor at the end of each week; a
contingency plan would be to pick up paper waste twice a week, if necessary. The assignment would
rotate each week to another employee on that floor.
(4) Establish how many pounds per week, using the first week as the standard, are recycled normally.
(5) The paper is to be weighed and recorded by floor. This weight should be published for all
employees to see.
(6) After the first week of implementing the plan, the employees on the floor with the biggest
increase of paper waste will have a chance to win 2 $75 gift cards, of their choice.
(7) Names would be drawn randomly from a box with each employee's business card twice.
(8) In addition to the gift card the Company will donate $75 to the winning employees' charity
of choice.
(9) Once paper is weighed, it would be taken to the Bartlesville recycle center
(10) Once goal is reached, all employees would be treated to a BBQ lunch.
(11) The plan would be implemented again using 100% increase as a goal.
(12) The plan could be implemented on an "ongoing" basis. Prizes may change and the program could be
tweaked as needed in the future.
 RECYCLE PAPER WASTE PROGRAM
In order to invigorate a company-wide commitment to increase the recycling of paper waste, a program
has been developed for your approval. The program would be started at the Bartlesville downtown office
building. Each employee would be given a recyclable paper bag to put paper waste in. At the end of each
week an employee would be randomly selected to pick up the paper to be recycled, i.e. recycle
King/Queen. The paper would be weighed by floor. The first week of weights would be the base-line to
begin the program. After the first week, the floor with the largest increase would be given a $75 gift card
to two employees selected by raffle. In addition to the gift cards, Philips would donate $75 to the charity
of the winners' choice. The weights and results should be posted in all employee break rooms. Once the
goal of a 75% increase has been reached, Philips would treat all employees to a BBQ luncheon. The
program would be implemented with a new goal of 100%. Once that goal is reached, the program could be
implemented on "on-going" basis, changing prizes and tweaking the program as need for future needs. We
should have a big "kick off" week and send emails to all employees outlining the program.

Chapter #9
#2.) How could the Internet be helpful to managers as they follow the steps in the strategic
management process?
The Internet would be helpful to managers as they follow the steps in the strategic management
process. When the organization is doing an external analysis to follow trends, such as national
legislation and stakeholder interests, by monitoring blogs, tweets, and web sites, such as
Facebook to identify their opportunities and threats. When doing an internal analysis, the
Internet could be helpful by monitoring employee blogs, locate resources, and hire competent
employees to identify its strengths and weaknesses. When formulating strategies, the Internet can
help management consider the realities of the external environment and their available resources
and capabilities using 3 types of strategies; corporate strategy which involves determining the
growth of the organization. The organization can use the Internet to determine if they should
expand their business(es) or invest in existing business(es). The Internet could help
organizations with stability strategies to determine whether or not the organization should
continue what it is doing. When an organization is in trouble, managers need to develop
strategies called renewal strategies which is either a retrenchment (a short-run renewal strategy
used for minor purposes) or turnaround strategies (a more serious and drastic action). The
Internet could be an invaluable tool providing statistical data to determine which strategy would
be most helpful. The Internet would be helpful as an organization implements its strategies by
monitoring the same blogs, tweets and web sites, such as Facebook. When evaluating the results
of these strategies, the Internet would be a crucial tool to decide how effective their strategies
are. Managers use e-business strategies to reduce costs, to differentiate their firm’s products and
services, to target specific customer groups, or to lower costs by standardizing certain office
functions. Using a “clicks-and-bricks” strategy, which combines online and traditional
management styles.

#4.) Should ethical considerations be included in analyses of an organization’s

internal and external environments? Why or why not?

Most definitely, the credibility of the entire organization is determined by their ethics.

Ethical external environments would by how green an organization is; what kind of

impact they have on the environment. Other external factors would be following

governmental laws, treating stakeholders honestly and openly. Ethical internal

environments would include how well they treat their employees; i.e. pay, performance

reviews, benefits packages, and providing a safe environment in which employees work.

Another ethical internal factor would be how they report financial information.

#6.) Describe the role of competitive advantage and how Porter’s competitive strategies

help an organization develop competitive advantage.

An organization’s competitive advantage is what sets it apart, its distinctive edge. A company’s

competitive advantage becomes the basis for choosing an appropriate competitive strategy.

Porter’s five forces model assesses the five competitive forces that dictate the rules of

competition in an industry: threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of

buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and current rivalry. Porter’s three competitive strategies

are, cost leadership (competing on the basis of having the lowest costs in the industry),

differentiation (competing on the basis of having unique products that are widely valued by
customers), and focus (competing in a narrow segment with either a cost advantage or a

differentiation advantage).

#8.) Describe e-business, customer service and innovation strategies.

E-business strategies are using the internet to get and supply vital information, customer service

strategies would include customer surveys, timely deliveries, product availability, using a “the

customer is always right” approach. Innovation strategies would be finding new and better ways

to do things, providing new technology, a company could remake their entire organization to

increase their effectiveness in their industry and appeal to more consumers.

Chapter #10

#2.) What is organizational performance?

Organizational performance is the accumulated results of all the organization’s work activities.

Three frequently used organizational performance measures include (1) productivity, the output;

(2) effectiveness, a measure of how appropriate organizational goals are and how well those

goals are being met; and (3) industry and company rankings compiled by various business

publications.

#4.) Discuss the various types of tools used to monitor and measure organizational

performance.

Feedforward controls take place before a work activity is done. Concurrent controls take place

while a work activity is being done. Feedback controls take place after a work activity is done.

Financial controls that managers can use include financial ratios (liquidity, leverage, activity, and

profitability) and budgets. One information control managers can use is MISS, which provides

managers with needed information on a regular basis. Others include comprehensive and
secure controls such as data encryption, system firewalls, data back-ups, and so forth that

protect the organization’s information.

Balanced scorecards provide a way to evaluate an organization’s performance in four different

areas rather than just from the financial perspective. Benchmarking provides control by finding

the best practices among competitors or noncompetitors and from inside the organization itself.

#6.) Why is control important to customer interactions?

Control is important to customer interactions because employee service productivity and service

quality influences customer perceptions of service value. Organizations want long-term and

mutually beneficial relationships among their employees and customers.

#8.) “Every individual employee in an organization plays a role in controlling work

activities.” Do you agree with this statement, or do you think control is something only

managers are responsible for? Explain.

Yes, I do agree with this statement. An efficient and effective manager would encourage

employees to play a role in controlling work activities by setting goals for them to achieve. In

order to meet those goals, employees do some of the same control practices as managers.

Control is important to both managers and employees because it’s the only way to know if goals

are being met, and if not, why and it empowers employees to achieve those goals and gives

them control over their future with the organization.

Planning and Control Techniques Module

#2.) Describe the four techniques for allocating resources.

The four techniques for allocating resources are (1) Budgeting – A numerical plan for allocating

resources to specific activities. Budgets are prepared for revenues, expenses, and large capital

expenditures such as equipment. Budgets can be used for improving time, space, and use of
material resources. A cash budget forecasts cash on hand and how much will be needed. A

profit budget combines revenue and expense budgets of various units to determine each unit’s

profit contribution. These two budgets are variable budgets and takes into account the costs

that vary with volume. A revenue budget projects future sales. An expense budget lists primary

activities and allocates dollar amounts to each. These budgets are fixed budgets that assumes

a fixed level of sales or production. (2) Scheduling – detailing what activities have to be done,

the order in which they are to be completed, who is to do each, and when they are to be

completed. Gantt charts (a scheduling chart developed by Henry Gantt that shows actual and

planned output over a period of time), load charts (a modified Gantt chart that schedules

capacity by entire departments or specific resources) and PERT networks (a flowchart diagram

showing the sequence of activities needed to complete a project and the time or cost associated

with each) are used to help budget resources. (3) Breakeven analysis - a widely used

technique for identifying the point at which total revenue is just sufficient to cover total costs.

Breakeven analysis points out the relationship between revenues, costs, and profits. (4) Linear

programming – a mathematical technique that solves resource allocation problems. Linear

programming can’t be applied to all resource allocation problems because it requires that

resources be limited, that the goal be outcome optimization, that resources can be combined in

alternative ways to produce a number of output mixes and that a linear relationship exist

between variables (a change in one variable must be accompanied by an exactly proportional

change in the other). Types of problems that can be solved with linear programming include

selecting transportation routes that minimize shipping costs, allocating a limited advertising

budget among various product brands, making the optimal assignment of people among

projects, and determining how much of each product to make with a limited number of

resources.

#4.) Why is flexibility so important to today’s planning techniques?

Flexibility is so important to today’s planning techniques because the external environment is

changing so rapidly. New technology can affect the way an organization plans. Flexibility is

required because of “Murphy’s Law” if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. Managers can’t

forecast for all scenarios because some scenarios pop up that weren’t expected in the first

place. Flexibility allows a manager to make good use of slack time by assigning an employee

who is at an end of a project to help get another project accomplished. Contingency plans are

one form of flexibility.

#6.) “It’s a waste of time and other resources to develop a set of sophisticated scenarios

for situations the may never occur.” Do you agree or disagree? Support your position.

I disagree with this statement. The future plans of a project or organization are not set in stone.

It is better to be prepared for the worst case scenario and not need it than to not plan for the

worst case scenario and when it does happen, a manager is totally unprepared to analyze the

situation and come up with effective and efficient ways to address the problem. Instead,

managers have to react to the problem instead of working the plan. Planning scenarios for

situations that may never occur also reduces stress about what might go wrong and what has

gone wrong with no plan in place to deal with the situation. A manager can be relatively

confident that the organization is prepared to handle almost any problem that arises when

different scenarios are considered and planned for.

#8.) The Wall Street Journal and other business periodicals often carry reports of

companies that have not met their sales or profit forecasts. What are some reasons a

company might not meet its forecast? What suggestions could you make for improving

the effectiveness of forecasting?

Forecasting techniques are most accurate when the environment is not rapidly changing. The

more dynamic the environment, the more likely managers are to forecast ineffectively.
Forecasting is relatively ineffective in predicting nonseasonal events such as recessions,

unusual occurrences, discontinued operations, and the actions or reactions of competitors.

Some other reasons would be an unexpected rise in costs of inventories or expenses. New

governmental policies, such as minimum wage changes can have an effect on an organization’s

bottom line. The unexpected actions of competitors such as new product development,

lowering prices, or a change in their marketing style. A catchy new advertisement gimmick such

as Wendy’s commercial asking “where’s the beef” can cause consumers to unexpectedly

change their spending habits. Unexpected demand can cause unexpected costs in overtime

and other variable expenses.

Accurate forecasts depend on tools such as environmental scanning (the screening of large

amounts of information to anticipate and interpret changes in the environment). By paying close

attention to information easily found on the internet, classified ads, competitor intelligence

(environmental scanning activity by which organizations gather information about competitors)

an organization can better forecast for the future. An organization can improve their forecasts

by using forecasting techniques such as quantitative (applying a set of mathematical rules to a

series of past data to predict outcomes) and qualitative (using the judgment and opinions of

knowledgeable individuals to predict outcomes) forecasting.

#10.) What might be some early warning signs of (a) a new competitor coming into your

market, (b) an employee work stoppage or (c) a new technology that could change

demand for your product?

Some of the early warning signs of (a) a new competitor coming into the market might be

problems getting inventory materials that are usually plentiful, another company’s job listings

requesting employees with the same technical background as your employees, salesmen

reporting that existing customers have been approached by salesmen trying to sell them the

same services you supply or employees reporting that they’ve been contacted by a new
company wanting to hire them. (b) Early warning signs of an employee work stoppage would be

low employee morale, more than usual angry employees, or employees requesting time off at

the same time. (c) Early warning signs of a new technology that could change demand for the

organization’s product could be detected by using the substitution effect which uses a

mathematical formula to predict how, when and under what circumstances a new product or

technology will replace an existing one.

Managing Operations Module

#2.) Do you think that manufacturing or service organizations have the greater need for

operations management? Explain.

Yes, I think that manufacturing or service organizations have the greater need for operations

management. Operations management refers to the transformation process that converts

resources, such as people, technology, capital, equipment, materials, and information, into

finished goods and services. Operations management is important to organizations and

managers for three reasons: (1) it encompasses both services and manufacturing. (2) It’s

important in effectively and efficiently managing productivity. (3) It plays a strategic role in an

organization’s competitive success.

#4.) What is required for successful value chain management? What obstacles exist to

successful value chain management?

Collaborative relationships among all chain participants must exist. Each partner must identify

things he or she may not value but that customers do. Sharing information and being flexible as

far as who in the value chain does what are important steps in building coordination and

collaboration. The sharing of information and analysis requires more open communication

among the various value chain partners. A significant investment in information technology is
required for successful value chain management. Information technology can be used to

restructure the value chain to better serve end users. It requires all organizational processes to

be critically evaluated from beginning to end to see where value is being added. Non-value-

adding activities should be eliminated. It requires strong and committed leadership. From top

organizational levels to lower levels, managers must support, facilitate, and promote the

implementation and ongoing practice of value chain management. Three main human resource

requirements for value chain management are: flexible approaches to job design, effective

hiring processes and ongoing training. Flexibility is the key to job design. Having a supportive

organizational culture and attitudes is also a requirement for value chain management.

The obstacles in managing the value chain include organizational barriers. These barriers

include refusal or reluctance to share information, reluctance to shake up the status quo, and

security issues. Unsupportive cultural attitudes, especially trust and control, are also obstacles.

Another obstacle requires critical, and difficult, self-evaluations of an organization’s capabilities

and processes to become more effective and efficient at managing their value chains. An

organization’s people can also be a barrier. Without their unwavering commitment to do

whatever it takes, value chain management won’t be successful. If employees refuse to be

flexible in their work, collaboration and cooperation throughout the value chain will be hard to

achieve. It also take an incredible amount of time and energy on the part of an organization’s

employees. Managers must motivate those high levels of effort from employees.

#6.) How does technology play a role in manufacturing?

Technology allows organizations to control costs, particularly in the areas of predictive

maintenance, remote diagnostics, and utility cost savings. New Internet-compatible equipment

contains embedded Web servers that can communicate proactively. Some devices have the

ability to initiate e-mail or signal a pager at a supplier, the maintenance department, or

contractor describing the specific problem and requesting parts and service. Technology can

also prevent equipment breakdowns and subsequent production downtime.

#8.) Describe lean management and explain why it’s important.

Lean management is an organization that understands what customers want, identifies

customer value by analyzing all activities required to produce products, and that optimizes the

entire process from the customer’s perspective.

It’s important because lean organizations drive out all activities that do not add value in the

customers’ eyes. “Lean operations adopt a philosophy of minimizing waste by striving for

perfection through continuous learning, creativity, and teamwork.”

#10.) Which is more critical to success in organizations: continuous improvement or

quality control? Support your position.

Quality control is more critical to success in organizations because quality problems are

expensive. Many experts believe that organizations unable to produce high-quality products

won’t be able to compete successfully in the global marketplace. Without quality control,

continuous improvement cannot be achieved.