Long range planning in Bell Canada

The objectives and activities of Bell Canada's Business Planning group are outlined. The Business Planning process of obtaining inputs, organizing the data base, and creating outputs is elaborated. Inputs are derived from original research efforts such as trend extrapolation, Delphi research and survey research. Selected results from Business Planning studies are illustrated. Inputs obtained through secondary research activities are also outlined. The creation of a key-word-indexed on-line information retrieval system to organize the data base is described. The underlying group philosophy of developing outputs that support and/or stimulate the executive decision making process is stressed in the development of Business Planning Outputs.     

Experiments in mixed integer linear programming in a manufacturing system

This paper reports on a Manufacturing System and two Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) applications concurrent to it. The System is made up of four integrated modules designed to address problems of Strategic, Tactical and Operational Planning. The MIP applications concern problems of plant site selection and production planning. Optimization is done via the IBM's MPSX/370 Mathematical Programming Software.     

Does Futures Research have a corporate role?

The author suggests that Futures Research is an indispensible initial step in the Strategic Planning process. For various reasons, including executives' belief that futurism is not “businesslike”, it appears unwarranted to establish a Futures Research group independent of the Strategic Planning department. In view of the repeated and serious predictions of the demise of the corporation, what could be a better Futures Research project than to seek ways of reversing these forecasts?     

Manpower studies for industrial sectors

The author has been head of the Engineering Industry Training Board's Research, Planning and Statistics Division since the Board was established. This paper deals with developments over the past 10 years in manpower studies for industrial sectors. The term manpower studies is a portmanteau one which covers a complex of interrelated activities: monitoring trends manpower forecasting, devising in manpower supply and demand, training policies to meet anticipated manpower needs, or otherwise seeking to optimise the utilisation of existing and future manpower resources. The development of these studies is briefly described and the work of the Engineering Industry Training Board—which covers both methodological studies and data collection—is dealth with in more detail.     

A future for the corporate planner?

Although not initiated by the event, it seems appropriate that this article is written on the tenth anniversary of the founding of The Society for Long Range Planning. It is entirely coincidental that Ansoff's book ‘Corporate Strategy’, which has evolved into the standard work on corporate planning, also appeared about a decade ago. This fortuitous coincidence has been further emphasized by the recent publication of another book from the same authority which introduces an entirely new factor into the future prospects for corporate planners. An attempt is made here to assess its implications.     

How the Rip Van Winkle approach helps oil executives plan

Restructuring has been the oil industry's response to stagnation in profits. After a steady period of profit growth the industry faces the challenge of decline. Currently it is adapting by getting back to basics, i.e. divesting assets and reducing staff; forming a closer understanding of its markets and uncovering new ones. Planning is now too important a strategic activity to be left solely to planners, and at Atlantic Richfield the most important response to restructuring has been the direct involvement of senior executives in the planning process.     

‘It is not fair that you do not know we have problems’: Perceptual distance and the consequences of male leaders' conflict avoidance behaviours

This study investigates perceptual distance in terms of managers' conflict avoidance behaviour and its consequences for subordinates. We argue that perceptual distance, or the disagreement between a manager's perception and that of his or her subordinates of his or her conflict avoidance, is a genuine phenomenon. We examine the extent to which the perceptual distance regarding managers' avoidance behaviour influences a team's justice climate as well as the role of gender. The data collected from three multinational companies in China show that the perceptual distance of a male manager's avoidance behaviour exists and that it is associated with a negative justice climate within the team. These findings provide evidence of gender's effect on leadership and highlight the benefits of female leadership.     

Long range planning for the small firm

The article describes a clear and effective method to undertake basic Long Range Planning. The method has been developed for the busy managers of small firms which do not carry specialist staff. The method involves a single page worksheet on which will appear the entire basic long range planning process. The method can be described as 'Every- managers Long Range Planning!     

Tioxide: Computerization—The key to the future in financial planning

As the capability of new computer systems becomes increasingly sophisticated, so does the application of computer techniques to financial and strategic planning become more relevant to management. Planning and practically all forms of decision-making are concerned with the future, which necessarily is uncertain and therefore difficult to plan for. Forecasting methods, however, can suggest trends and it is possible to reduce the number of possible futures to a manageable number, in effect, creating scenarios. But the viewing of multiple scenarios in a manual accounting system is impractical, given the sheer volume of work, and this is where the facilities offered by computerization can assist decision-making greatly. The case study illustrated here concerns a multinational company with production facilities in seven different countries, using a sophisticated financial software packege for strategic and financial planning applications. The article traces the development of Tioxide's association with a financial modelling package, Planmaster, from initial use on a time-sharing basis to the changes in hardware manufacture which made it possible to run what is essentially a mainframe program on the desk-top microcomputer of the planning department.     

The future from the top: Presidential perspectives on planning—Part two

This is the second part of Dr. Rosen's article and follows on from the section published in the April 1974 issue of Long Range Planning. This section is concerned with examining and selecting the most suitable form of the variety of possible approaches to planning, balancing the involvement of the Chief Executive and relating forecasts to the development and life of the company.     

On micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities: A multi-level perspective based on CEO personality and knowledge-based capital

In recent years, researchers have asked why some firms are better than others at developing dynamic capabilities. The existing literature assesses micro-foundations separately, either on the managerial or on the organizational level. This study aims to provide a more holistic picture on the antecedents of dynamic capabilities by integrating managerial and organizational micro-foundations. Specifically, we posit that the personality of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), manifested through their core self-evaluation (CSE), represents an individual-level micro-foundation which influences three types of a firm's knowledge-based capital—human, social, and organizational capital. We also argue that these three, in turn, are organization-level micro-foundations that ultimately enable the development of a firm's dynamic capabilities. We test our multi-level framework using data from 307 German CEOs, and confirm that CEO CSE is positively related with all three forms of knowledge-based capital. We further find that human capital and organizational capital mediate the relationship between a CEO's CSE and a firm's dynamic capabilities. Our research contributes by extending a central framework of the micro-foundations project (the bathtub model) that integrates the upper echelons perspective into a multi-level analysis. We empirically validate this model and advance the understanding of how firm leaders indirectly influence firm dynamic capabilities by shaping individual learning conditions.     

Antecedents and Outcomes of Political Tie Intensity: Institutional and Strategic Fit Perspectives

Although international nonmarket strategy research has highlighted the importance of political ties, it is still unclear why some foreign subsidiaries are more politically active than others and what conditions may render political practices beneficial in a host country. We argue that foreign subsidiary political tie intensity—the extent to which senior managers provide time and resources in informally dealing with government officials for nonmarket purposes—will be influenced by political institutions in their parent's home country, especially when the MNE parent attempts to protect foreign subsidiary resources. Additionally, we assert that fit between a parent's home country political institutions and foreign subsidiary political tie intensity will positively affect subsidiary performance. We employ primary data collected from 181 foreign subsidiaries in the Philippines and find support for our hypotheses. This study advances international nonmarket strategy research by highlighting how an MNE's home country political institutions shape subsidiary political networking and strategic performance outcomes in host country environments.     

Organizing for strategic management— A conceptual model

Managing the strategic problems is a complex process. In order to organize this process efficiently in one's own company it is necessary to understand and be able to communicate the basic factors involved. In the author's view there is a need to compile into a model concepts, relations and organizational principles of major importance to successful strategic planning. This article is based on the author's analysis of current literature and his own practical experience in Scandinavia. The article presents a conceptual model for strategic management including the planning process as well as the execution of strategic decisions. This model is related to basic organizational principles and the methodology used in project management.     

Planning in a nationalized industry

In times of uncertainty, the art of forward planning becomes—paradoxically—of even greater importance to industry. But how do you plan both flexibly and effectively? In this speech to the Society for Long Range Planning at the Royal Society on 11 March 1975, BSC's managing director finance, Leonard Kingshott described how the BSC tackles the problem.     

Planning for Giro

Giro's recent commercial successes in the U.K. have been widely reported. The reconstruction of its capital and its plans to provide wider banking services have been publicly debated.In this article Alfred Singer, a past Chairman of the Society for Long Range Planning, describes the planning process in Giro—its past achievements and mistakes; its present challenges; and its future aspirations.     

Corporate planning and control systems in Williams & Glyn's Bank

The paper describes the planning procedures presently existing in Williams & Glyn's Bank. Emphasis is placed on the link between the Corporate Plan and the shorter-term budgets; the Corporate Plan provides the framework within which the budget is compiled and the budget is then used as a means of implementing the plan and monitoring progress. Emphasis is also given to the dissemination of the Corporate Plan both to all staff at Branch Manager, or equivalent level, and above and to members of the National Union of Bank Employees Joint Consultative Committee.Lectures based on this paper have been given to the Organization and Use of the Corporate Planning Process Study Group and to the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Group; both Groups belong to the Society for Long Range Planning.     

A reconceptualization of authentic leadership: Leader legitimation via follower-centered assessment of the moral dimension

We explore some challenges that face authentic leadership scholarship including problems related to how the construct is understood and measured. We present a model of authentic leadership that looks at it, not as a leadership style, but as an outcome of a legitimation process. Authentic leadership represents legitimated follower perceptions of a leader's authenticity which are activated by moral judgments. We explain how a follower-centered assessment of the moral component helps explain leadership dynamics in situations involving ethical relativism, thus alleviating concerns regarding the presumed moral component of the construct. The overlap between leaders' and followers' value systems leads to impressions of authenticity, even in cases in which there are no clear universal moral standards. An authentic person's behavior cannot be labeled as “leadership” unless it is embraced by a follower who grants moral legitimacy to the leader. We then discuss the implications of our study for scholars and practitioners.     

Meaningful work at a distance: A case study in a hospital

Having a positive impact on other people's lives typically increases the likelihood of regarding one's work as meaningful. In some settings, however, employees have little or no contact to those who experience the impact of their work. Our paper examines how such distance affects these employees' construction of their work as meaningful. We present the findings of an in-depth case study of medical laboratory workers who do not typically interact with their patients. Drawing on interviews and observational data, we identify three sensemaking practices through which employees overcome the physical and perceived psychological distance to patients: assembling various pieces of information about the patient, sharing patient-related stories with colleagues, and relating themselves to patients and their medical problems. We also find that overcoming distance to patients can result in emotional stress, which is why some employees prefer staying at a ‘safe’ psychological distance. Our paper contributes to the meaningful work literature by examining how actors make work meaningful when they are physically distant from their object of work. We also contribute to a critical understanding of meaningful work by showing how efforts to render one's work more meaningful can intensify stress and emotional tension.