Management Planning in TYCO - Case Study Example

The well-conceived mission statement defines the fundamental unique purpose that sets TYCO apart from other firms of its type and defines where the company wants to be in the next 5 to 10 years. TYCO operates on the global market marked by fierce competition and constant changes. For this reason, TYCO uses planning as one of the main tools which help it to reach the stated goals and objectives. The implementation of strategy occurs at all levels of the organization, including both corporate and individual departments (www.tyco.com).

To that end, each department and support unit complement and support one another (Marketing Planning, n.d.). Planning involves such important elements of management as strategy formulation defined s an ongoing approach that combines both successful practices of the past with fresh and innovative approaches to the future. In TYCO, the midlevel manager is not the person who is responsible for creating corporate strategy. Rather, it is his responsibility to translate corporate strategy into action.

TYCO's core competency is to create unique products and services in comparison to its competitors (Planning 1995). In TYCO, all managers find themselves to a greater or lesser extent faced with the challenge of trying to balance routine office responsibilities (i.e., phone calls, answering requests for information, etc.) with the need to complete organizational goals and project tasks. In order to successfully plan, the manager must be good at establishing priorities. To that end, effective managers exercise good time management skills and set aside time to complete organizational goals and project tasks.

For instance, TYCO's consultant must routinely balance competing requirements in selecting technologies and service vendors. The consultant, however, may choose to weigh the criteria differently, depending on the project and client requirements (www.tyco.com). The planning model checklist allows the consultant to attach an assigned numeric value for each vendor proposal across different categories that can be totaled and scored and used as a basis for comparison. The planning function of management helps TYCO to organize its activities and performance in accordance with external and internal changes and market demands which influence the company and its customers (Planning 1995).

At the beginning of the 21st century, legal issues, ethics and corporate social responsibility become the core of any business. Legal issues involve industry requirements and product quality, product standards and international regulations. The globalization of economic activity has forced TYCO to carefully consider its economic policies. The common motivation behind such regulatory and economic reforms is the perceived inefficiency of central planning and government-protected monopolies. One of the vivid examples of legal issues is TYCO's compliance with the international price regulations.

Operating on a global scale, TYCO follows international regulations and rules. For TYCO it is more in keeping with performance-based regulation - that is, to create rewards and incentives for effective utility management. Price regulation has built into the regulatory framework a system of rewards and penalties. There are a number of ways to build in incentives,