How to Develop a Plan That Really Works - Case Study Example

 How to Develop a Plan That Really Works. Boeing is a leading aerospace and defense corporation the US. For this corporation, planning process is a core of all activities determining the main strategic directions and overall success of company’s performance. In general, planning is seen by Boeing as one of the most important functions of management which helps managers to develop and coordinate all activities within their organization. Planning has become the hallmark of well-managed organizations, managers are often skeptical about its usefulness and how it should be done. Some managers argue for a comprehensive, rational approach which lays out a course of action for five years or so. Yet, managers need to develop resources to face an uncertain future and react to opportunities and threats as they arise with these resources. Boeing uses four main types of plans: strategic, tactical, operational and contingency plans. Strategic planning is important as it determine directions and strategic priorities of the corporation. Recent years, Boeing develops its strategic plans in accordance with Federal regulations and bankruptcy laws namely the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Cost Accounting Standards. For Boeing, strategic alternatives may be generated at all levels in the organization's hierarchy. At the organizational level, alternatives are concerned with the form of government, its basic style and policies, and its central service delivery purpose and strategy. At the department level, alternatives deal with the direction the organization should follow for each major service being delivered (Bryson 2004). At the division level, alternatives are concerned with the direction the organization should take in regard to discrete systems, processes, methods, and approaches. As the strategic planning process is being contemplated, criteria should be established as to how the plan will be evaluated. Criteria such as reduced cost, improved quality, improved sense of direction, better teamwork, and improved service delivery might be used. Organizations need to be aware of what is happening in their environment that might affect them. In other words, they should continually survey and monitor the outside as well as the inside of the organization (Bradford et al 2000). Strategic planning is influenced by social responsibility issues including ethical concerns and fair competition laws. A special attention is given at competition and advertising, macroenvironment and compliance with international laws. “Global corporate citizenship is one of Boeing's core values, and our communities are among the key stakeholders in the company's business model. Corporate citizenship is as integral to our company as our expertise in flight and technology” (Boeing Home Page 2008). Factors to be considered as part of the macro-environmental scanning process include social factors such as demographics, financial factors such as interest rates, and political factors such as increasing government deregulation, changing federalism and state government's trends, and regulations. Among the factors to be considered as part of the government environment are the number and locations of other governments, the degree of federal and state government presence, the typical services being provided, and the marketing strategies of other competitive local governments. The competitive-environmental scan includes consideration of general competitor profiles (other local governments and private service providers), market segmentation patterns, research and development, and so on (Bryson 2004). Tactical planning involves short-terms activities aimed to support implementation of strategic planning goals. At this level, Boeing pays especial attention to ethical standards and moral values of the corporation and employees, social corporate responsibility and community issues. The task of tactical planning is to preserve natural environment and do not harm the communities. Boeing underlines that a;; decisions are made at an early stage as to whether the tactical planning effort will be initially applied on a pilot basis and if so, which functions or programs will begin the pilot process. If the entire organization is to conduct tactical planning, then that decision should be made as well (Bryson 2004). The workshops dealt with the potential benefits of thinking and acting strategically; the proposed membership of the various task forces; the steps to be followed; and the form and timing of the required reports. If the preplanning process is handled well and taken seriously, the steps in the strategic planning process which follow will be more easily accomplished. Tactical planning is influenced by internal regulations and [principles of the company including auditing and financial reporting issues, internal budgeting and inventory control principles. Thus, it is crucial that all plans meet Federal legislation and cost accounting principles (Bradford et al 2000). Operation planning is based on strategic plans but involve short-terms activities aimed to explain how strategic plans are fulfilled. At this level, Boeing pays a special attention to environmental laws and regulations applied to airline industry. Moot questions about who will establish the guidelines, who will determine what these social responsibilities should be, and who will enforce departures from any standards established, are raised. The board of directors of major firms could have a public policy or social audit committee. This committee could audit the societal impact of the corporation in the following areas: environmental quality, consumer-citizen welfare, sociomarketing product, personnel policies, military contracting, and sociopolitical influence, and to provide recommendations for future performance. This committee could be composed of both company and public or outside members, and also have a staff of resource people to audit the company's performance in its ultimate environment. More firms will add more minority group representation to the board of directors--including directors charged with representing the consumer interest. These goal definitions should follow the pattern of economic goal definitions which includes the desired performance level, determination of responsibility to achieve these goals, the delegation of authority to achieve these goals, and the measurement of goal achievement at the end of the period (Bryson 2004). A social performance index based upon a market promise/market performance analysis is a way to provide an overall measure to compare the social performance of one corporation with another. The auditor would report the results from an instrument that would measure management's perception of the impact of its market offerings upon each component and each item to be included in the social performance audit. “Boeing has implemented aggressive targets for reducing its impact on the environment both for its operations and the lifecycle of its products” (Boeing Home Page 2008). Effective organization development requires shared responsibility for development of an organization among all organizational functions and components and among managers, supervisors, and employees (Bradford et al 2000). Similar to other plans, operational planning is influenced by Federal Legislation including climate change and pollution issues. The task of Boeing management is to “ensure each new commercial airplane generation delivers at least a 15 percent improvement in carbon dioxide emissions and fuel efficiency and direct more than 75 percent of commercial airplanes research and development to benefit environmental performance” (Boeing Home page 2008). It should be obvious that this model of organization development utilizes strategic planning as the primary tool to respond to the change an organization is facing. Marketing ethics, values, responsibilities, and marketing government relationships are involved (Goodstein et al 1993). These marketing dimensions will unquestionably receive increasing scrutiny by practitioners and academicians in a variety of areas, and the result will be some very challenging and basic questions that must be answered. Contingency planning is aimed to eliminate possible internal and external risk and threats. Contingency plans are based on general directives and contingency laws applied to large organizations like Boeing. Developing such plans, Boeing takes into account Local Emergency Planning and the National Contingency Plan guidelines. Those adopting this view believe that as a natural consequence of its efficiency, customers are satisfied, firms prosper, and the well-being of society follows automatically (Goodstein et al 1993). They fear that the acceptance of any other responsibilities by marketing managers, particularly social responsibilities, tends to threaten the very foundation of our economic system. Functional/departmental/programmatic strategic plans deal with what to do to operate a specific organizational component in a specific overall organization. Overall organization strategic planning is conducted at the next higher level and is concerned with the overall organization. Issues like new services, consolidations, joint agreements, and major reorganizations of departments are examples (Bradford et al 2000). Contingency plans are based on environmental laws and regulations aimed to protect the stakeholders and the environment from possible risks and threats. Boeing takes a more global view, a more managed view, one with more shared social responsibility. It is less top-down and engenders more intense planning of needed organizational structures, systems, policies, and procedures. It can also be seen as an organizational renewal process. It concerns how best to incorporate change and adapt in the short run and still maintain stability and cost effectiveness in the long run. At the same time, the community and organization should be examined to ascertain strengths and weaknesses in such areas as organizational structure, finance, productivity, service delivery capability, community involvement and understanding, and overall management capacity (Bradford et al 2000). In sum, planning model applied by Boeing is based on strict social responsibility issues and federal legislations initiatives. The principal responsibility of management and policy makers of the company is to evaluate the economies and the environment in which the organization operates, noting existing and potential opportunities and threats confronting the organization and the community. References Boing Home Page. 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2008 from www.boing.com Bradford, R. W., Duncan, J. P., Tarcy, B. Simplified Strategic Planning: A No- Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast. Chandler House Press, 2000. Bryson, J. M. Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement, 3rd Edition. Jossey-Bass; 3 edition, 2004. Goodstein, L., Nolan, T., Pfeiffer, W. J. Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works. McGraw-Hill; 1 edition, 1993. Read More