📋 Planning Q&A

‘XYZ Business’ is a balloon manufacturing firm. With the arrival of foreign firms it is feeling the pressure of improving its business strategy. Because of the firm’s advance planning it could not suddenly bring changes in its plans as the whole organisation had started implementing the decided plan. But this year the organisation wants to ensure success. However, the firm knows that the external environment is changeable and continues to vary in a fast manner. The organisation wants to prepare in advance for a better future. It has decided to allocate a portion of its budget specifically for proper planning as it knows there are going to be expenses like Expert’s fee, survey charges, etc.

Which limitations of planning have been identified in the above case?

In an annual general meeting a company sets its targets for the year. The manufacturing department has decided to manufacture 2.5 million units of the product and has decided to monitor the performance so as to control it accordingly. The survey done by the company has shown a number of cities in the north which are showing increased demand for the product. The company in its research during the last three months generated various options and decided to follow the best one. The HR team is also concerned about its output. The HR head revealed that there can be shortage of MBA pass outs which can reduce the quality of manpower in the near future so it has decided to arrange HR workshops in different colleges to get the best candidates. The board meeting ends on a positive note.

In the above case identify the importance of planning and the concerned lines.

Rajesh is at the real point of decision making in the course of his planning. He has arrived at this point after identifying various alternative courses of action. After identification he was thoroughly involved in the evaluation of each of these alternatives. He later got involved into making several permutations and combinations of these alternatives to arrive at this point.

Through which stage of the planning process is Rajesh going? Also give the next two steps of planning process.

Naman is a very intelligent planner. He knows the market pretty well. For last 15 years he has been leading several successful projects for his company. Company gives him responsibility to start a new project in S. America. With his experience he makes assumptions about all the possible future scenarios.

Which step of the planning process is the above paragraph related to?
What is the other term used for assumptions in planning process?
What is the base material for developing premises?

Two years ago, Madhu completed her degree in food technology. She worked for sometime in a company that manufactured chutneys, pickles and murabbas. She was not happy in the company and decided to have her own organic food processing unit for the same. She set the objectives and the targets and formulated an action plan to achieve the same.

One of her objectives was to earn 10% profit on the amount invested in the first year. It was decided that raw materials like fruits, vegetables, spices, etc. will be purchased on three months credit from farmers cultivating only organic crops. She also decided to follow the steps required for marketing of the products through her own outlets. She appointed Mohan as the Production Manager who decided the exact manner in which the production activities were to be carried out. Mohan also prepared a statement showing the number of workers that will be required in the factory throughout the year. Madhu informed Mohan about her area wise sales target for different products for the forthcoming quarter. While working on the production table, a penalty of ₹100 per day for not wearing caps, gloves and apron was announced.

Quoting lines from the above paragraph, identify and explain the different types of plans discussed.

Arush joins as a sales manager of a company dealing in neurotherapy products. Being proficient in his work, he knew that without good planning he will not be able to organise, direct, control or perform any of the other managerial functions efficiently and effectively. Only on the basis of sales forecasting, he would assist in the preparation of the annual plans for its production and sales. Besides, he will have to prepare sales plans regularly on weekly, monthly, quarterly and half yearly basis. While preparing the sales forecasts, he undertakes intellectual thinking involving foresight, visualization and issued judgement rather than wishful thinking or guess work. Most importantly, all these planning activities will be meaningful only if they will coincide with the purpose for which the business is being carried out.

In context of the above case, identify the various features of planning highlighted in the above paragraph by quoting lines from it.

An established firm has fifty years of experience in shipping industry. The company time and again proves itself as one of the dominant figures in the market. The plan for the whole year is given a lot of importance. According to the owner of the company their plans are the basic structures upon which other important functions of management rest. It is important that the plans are communicated to the employees. The top management ensures that the plans are communicated and implemented at all levels and in all departments. To learn from past mistakes is a habit of this successful company. They prepare plans for short term as well as long term where it can be seen that throughout the year the plans are prepared one after another. Shipping industry needs such dedicated companies. The goals are specific and the activities to achieve these specific goals are undertaken. The company has planned a growth of 20% in revenue this year. Let’s see how much it’s possible for it to achieve it by the end of the year.

In the above case identify the various features of planning highlighted.
Which type of plan is indicated in the above case?

Flipkart is an e-commerce company founded in the year 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. The company is registered in Singapore, but has its headquarters in Bengaluru, India. The company seeks to increase traffic (more clicks on their products) and boost sales and revenue through integration of Mobile Apps, Display, Pay Per Click and Search Engine Optimization. In order to dispel the fear of people related to shopping online, Flipkart was the first company to implement the popular ‘Cash on Delivery’ facility. All the products sold by the company under a particular category may have different return/replacement period. Flipkart allows multiple payment options such as cash on delivery, credit or debit card transactions, net banking, e-gift voucher and card swipe on delivery. The company operates both ways when an order is received. The products for which it holds inventory are dispatched by it directly. For the products they do not store in inventory, they just send the order received by them to the supplier who ships it. The company plans to spend about ₹75 crores on e-Commerce advertising in the year 2016. Flipkart reserves the right to terminate your membership and/or refuse to provide you with access to the website if it is brought to Flipkart’s notice or if it is discovered that you are under the age of 18 years. This is because as per the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the minors, un-discharged insolvents, etc. are not eligible to use the website.

In context of the above case, identify and explain the different types of plans being used by Flipkart by quoting lines from the paragraph.

‘Agile Ltd.’ is a well-known automobile manufacturing company in India. The company plans to increase the sale of its sedan cars by 20% in the next quarter. In order to achieve the desired target, the marketing team of the company considers the impact of policy of the government towards diesel vehicles and the level of competition in this segment of cars. They explore the various available options like offering more discount to dealers and customers, providing more customer friendly finance options, lucky draws on test drives, increasing advertising, offering more of free accessories on the purchase of the car, etc. A thorough analysis of the various available options is done keeping in view the relative viability of each option. The company decides to pursue the option of offering more discount to dealers and customers in order to boost the sale of sedan cars. In order to implement the plan, they determine the various discount packages and communicate the same to their product dealers. To make the prospective consumers aware about the new available benefits, advertisements are made through various sources of print and electronic media. The market analysts of the company keep a close watch on the revenue from the sedan cars to study the effect of new initiatives by the company to promote its sales.

In context of the above case:
(a) Name the function of management described in the above paragraph.
(b) Identify and explain the various steps involved in process the function of management as identified in part (a) by quoting lines from the paragraph.

Identify the types of plans:

1. Ramesh is a senior middle level manager. He is busy in allocating resources to his staff, he has also finalised the objectives and decided the course of action to be followed. He is expecting energy in his staff for the whole season but he will have to be cautious.

2. Suresh is giving a speech to the workers of his factory. He is the owner of a toy manufacturing factory and has 123 workers. He tells them that this year’s target of production is 7.5 lakh toys.

3. On the wall of ‘Health is Wealth’ hospital a board is hanging. On this board it is written ‘We care for the health of senior citizens as our topmost priority’. This hospital is known for treating people aged more than 60 years.

4. Rakesh calls his new subordinates for a meeting. He is a top level manager. He arranges for a power point presentation to train his subordinates who are all middle level managers. He tells them the way of doing task of treating suppliers through a new software system to be installed within next 30 days.

5. Dinesh takes a meeting and guides his employees in a type of plan which is chronological in nature and is situation specific. It is a collection of various methods in a step wise sequence.

6. Amit has given a detailed statement of expected results in numerical terms. This plan is conveyed to the subordinates by him in a special meeting.