Human asset accounting

Human Asset Accounting (‘HAA’) is not an accepted tool of long range planning. Indeed many planners probably look sceptically on the possibility that it will ever become a technique which is important to them in their work. Unlike many other methods which have been successfully developed over the last few years HAA involves concepts which are so new that as yet relatively few people have come into contact with them. The object of this article is to give some indication of the conceptual framework on which HAA theories are based and to describe one of the techniques which is being evolved as a possible management and planning tool.     

Best Practices and Policy Transfer in Spatial Planning

Abstract

Numerous European programs and initiatives have been instrumental in identifying a large and increasing number of examples of best practice (or good practice) in the field of spatial planning. In fact, there is now a profligacy of best practice, which means that many researchers and policy-makers are often confronted with too much information when trying to identify examples of policy and practice in other places. The identification and dissemination of best practices has become a growing industry in many areas of European policy, including spatial planning and urban environmental issues. In many cases, an underlying assumption of best practices is that they are equally applicable and effective in another setting, and that the development and dissemination of best practice will help to lead to improvements in policy and practice in other countries, regions or cities. However, the reality is that best practices have a more limited role in policy-making processes: other influences are frequently more important. The value of exchanging European best practices is limited since there are huge differences in the economic, political or social situation between countries in the European Union. This is particularly true when considering the transfer of best practices between ‘new’ and ‘old’ member states, where the social and economic situation, as well as the institutional frameworks, are often very different in ‘borrowing’ and ‘lending’ countries.     

Use and Misuse of Indicators in Spatial Planning: The Example of Land Take

The use of indicators to assess the impacts of spatial planning policies has experienced a strong increase in the last decades, despite the difficulties to identify clear causality links in this discipline. The aim of this article is to critically reflect on the impacts of such a phenomenon on spatial planning policies and practices. In order to do so, it explores the issue of land take and how the European Community has set up a policy objective, based on an indicator, to try to tackle the phenomenon.     

Comprehensive planning for libraries

In the area of planning, the literature has been almost entirely concerned with planning in the business (i.e. profit) setting. Some literature does exist on planning in the nonprofit sector, but it usually deals with tactical planning of the short-term character. This is specially true in the area of libraries and many librarians have developed and do administer large, complex organization— where conprehensive, long range planning is almost completely untreated in the literature.The current paper discusses the various steps in the strategic planning process, and relates them to a situation in which comprehensive long range plans for a new health sciences library have been developed, and to a considerable degree, implemented. In this framework, the steps of developing purpose and objecives, forecasting and policy formulation, developing and choosing growth strategy, determining resource requirements and provions, developing an organizational structure, and control system utilization are discussed both in the general framework of comprehensive planning, and with respect to actual experience in the development of a health sciences library. The roles of tactical planning and the implementation of plans are also treated.     

Financial planning in a divisionalized firm

In a business environment characterized by rapid technological changes, massive capital outlays, intensive competition, and the administration of complex large scale organizations, future growth and profitability will largely hinge upon reliable and intelligent long range financial planning.

If a business organization is to raise funds at the most reasonable costs and terms in money markets and capital markets, it must plan its cash requirements in advance to have ample time to negotiate effectively with the prospective lenders or their representatives. It is here that long range financial planning makes important contributions to effective financial management.     

Long range planning— Japan-USA— A comparative study

This article reports on a comparative study carried out in the U.S.A. and Japan. He concludes that in the U.S.A. long range planning is used to integrate the strategies of divisions and to control the divisions. The planning process is usually bottom-up rather than top-down.In Japan, long range planning is used for improving strategic decisions of top management, so the planning process is a centralized interactive process.Project emphasis rather than quantitative planning is a common characteristic in both the U.S.A. and Japan. However American corporations are more advanced in this respect. Many Japanese corporations suggest that project emphasis is the key success factor for planning.To cope with uncertainty, American corporations tend to update their plans every year or even at shorter intervals, while adopting contingency plans.To the same end, Japanese corporations are using two time horizon plans which are composed of a long range strategy and a medium range plan.With respect to follow-up and implementation, American corporations follow-up more closely and long range planning is used for the evaluation of managers of divisions. The quality of plan and accomplishment are reflected to the economic rewards.Japanese corporations are less inclined to follow up the long range plan itself, but it is considered as important to implement it through the budget and also through the project plan. Project teams are quite frequently used.     

Financial planning for new products: Part I—Basis for model formulation

In a previous paper the author presented a staged approach methodology for the evaluation and selection of R & D projects. The present paper is intended to serve as its complement.The aim is the formulation of a matching overall long range budget planning policy which will attempt to answer the questions of “how many projects to prove” and “how much to fund” on the basis of satisfying the company growth objective.To achieve the above purpose, a staged budget planning model has been developed which recognizes and utilizes the specific attributes of the various R & D stages. Tje project stage survival rate and project stage cost ratio concepts are discussed. A steady flow of projects through the various R & D stage is maintained. The aim of the program is to produce periodically a planned number of new products fro commercial investment.This methodology may apply to R & D program with a sufficient number of moderately sized projects that justify the use of survival rate and cost ratio values. It should be constructed as a tentative effort for possible use within the staged limitations.     

Recent changes in long range corporate planning in Japan

In his article the author discusses an emerging new stage in Japanese long range corporate planning which reflects the struggles of Japanese companies against the new economic situation in which it is very difficult to enjoy a high economic growth rate. Among the many long range plans launched in 1976 and 1977 Hitachi's new long range plan provides an excellent illustration of the main features of the struggles. Using Hitachi as an example various new aspects manifested in Stage IV of Japanese long range corporate planning are described with reference to the economic and social background and its implications for Japanese companies.     

Integrated Education for Resilient Urban Adaptation: Wildfire Risk Reduction in Australia

Abstract

Urban and regional planning education seeks, often through highly applied teaching, to develop students’ abilities allowing them to work meaningfully on emergent urban and regional issues. However, it is relatively uncommon that education itself develops alongside government policy and research agendas. This paper documents the development of a new tertiary wildfire management qualification prepared in partnership with planning and building agencies after the devastating 2009 Victorian wildfires. It is argued that the process of developing educational outcomes in this case paralleled an interactive and ongoing agenda of research, policy development and education that represents adaptive-ness facilitating resilience as learning and institutional change.     

Planning in a state of turbulence

This paper is concerned with an exploration of the role of the long range planner, whether in the private or public sector of the economy, and the impact made upon the processes of his work by government's increasing propensity to manipulate the economy. The authors' researches over the last 2 years into the comparative nature of planning processes in the U.K. economy have made it abundantly clear to them that planners are increasingly concerned at the dangerous potential of such impact upon their forecasting procedures. The emphasis here will rest upon the planner in private enterprises, although the authors' work in both local government and the nationalized enterprises suggest that the problem is of equal importance in these sectors.The authors consider first the past nature of the search processes in long range planning and the context of such attempts to narrow down the range of variables that form the enterprise's perception of its future. Secondly, they examine the emerging discontinuity and the changing role of government, with particular reference to indicative planning concepts. Then they introduce some of the findings of a recent survey of attitudes towards long range planning in the construction industry of the U.K., a sector vitally influenced by turbulence in the economy and with particular interest in government's ideas of macro-planning. Finally Edwards and Harris examine the implications to government and to planners of their findings.     

Gap analysis key to super growth

Micheal J. Kami contributed substantially to the early development of Corporate Planning. He was responsible for establishing the long range planning system at I.B.M. (1959–1964) and at Xerox Corporation (1964–1967). For the Journal he decided to write “something short and simple as a contrast to the rather complicated operations research type articles that appear in the first issue. There is nothing wrong with complexity except that the key and vital issues in corporations are not decided in that way”. In this brief article he, explains the concept of “gap analysis” and explains how it may be used to force top management to make continual and realistic comparisons between their stated objectives and the forecast results of present plans.     

DIY Do’s and Don’ts: Limitations to Building University-Community Partnerships with Low Resource Communities of Color

Communities are becoming more diverse and urban planning programs must train students to work with a range of constituents. Little is known about the role of university-community partnerships involved in tactical urbanism as a method to revitalize low resource communities of color. This paper describes the planning process in a partnership between Florida State University and its surrounding community. We highlight the role of faculty and students in facilitating a studio project in Frenchtown implementing tactical urbanism. It also provides the voices of residents, City officials, and non-profit organizations. We conclude with recommendations to improve university-community partnerships through long-term engagement in surrounding communities.     

Social forecasting in U.S. corporations—a survey

It has long been suggested that a firm's social responsiveness is a function, in part, of the state of the economy. Could it be that corporate social involvement is only feasible when the economy is healthy? Data from 183 major corporations suggests that via social forecasting, social responsiveness is: (A) a vital part of many corporations' strategic planning efforts, (B) not de-emphasized, but possibly encouraged, during down turns in the economy, and (C) receiving greater attention each year by numerous corporations.     

What Future for Green Infrastructure Planning? Evaluating the Changing Environment for Green Infrastructure Planning Following the Revocation of Regional Planning Policy in England

ABSTRACT

The revocation of the regional tier of planning by the UK Coalition Government in 2010 removed the established framework of strategic planning in England. Using a case study of green infrastructure (GI), this paper examines whether revocation has negatively impacted the development of environmental, and specifically GI policies and practice. It questions if changing government policy narratives have hindered advocacy and subsequently the delivery of GI and the extent to which it has been able to position itself as a mainstream approach in planning. Using the development of the RSS in England, and the North-East and East of England sub-regional GI strategies (areas of significant policy development), as case studies, the paper presents an ex-ante evaluation prior to revocation of the evolution of GI policy at a regional scale, alongside an ex-post assessment (2011–2015) of its continued growth within sub-regional policies. The paper concludes that whilst RSSs provided a promotional forum, that revocation has not negatively impacted upon GI development, as its advocates have facilitated a supportive policy-implementation environment which has led to the development of more integrated approaches in planning praxis.     

The annual planning cycle

The practical business man, be he the boss or an employee, usually accepts that systematic planning of some sort is almost certain to be of benefit to his company, and he can usually agree with many of the planning techniques put forward. What often worries him though, is how to actually operate a planning system in his company day by day: what instructions to give, systems to use, how to make it really work. In this article, the author describes an Annual Planning and Budget Cycle Chart which was developed at the Avon Rubber Company. This chart goes a long way to solving the practical businessman's dilemma referred to above, it gives set dates during the year for completion of specific planning and budgeting jobs and it explains how they are interconnected to make up a coherent and workable corporate planning system.     

Internal trade barriers are coming down in the EEC

There are many current examples of countries and companies infringing the free movement of goods within the European Economic Community. The rules governing this are clearly set out in Articles 30 to 36 of the Treaty of Rome and are rigorously applied by the Court of Justice of the European Communities.Noel Byrne gives examples from trade in erotica, water pipes, liqueurs, English language teaching materials and publicity leaflets to illustrate how transgressors can be dealt with. Intellectual property is an especially important field where protection can be used unjustifiably, and European Commission Directives are being introduced to liberalize public procurement.     

A Structural Approach to the European Labour Market

The structure of the European labour market is highly differentiated by geo-graphical area. If the 1992 integration is likely to induce short-medium term adjustment effects on employment, these will mostly affect regional labour markets. Negative adjustments will follow different distribution patterns, probably exacerbating current regional disequilibria. On the other hand, still little known are the geographical features of the European economic, social and production structures. Although many studies have recently concentrated on the analysis of local labour markets, few of them have addressed the issue of Community regions. Through multivariate and cluster analyses of structural data on regional labour markets, the paper offers a confirmation of the explanatory power of local market analysis, as applied to the European area. The structural features of each elementary area are captured by three factors only that allow the construction of a coherent classification of EEC regions in four major clusters. This classification is used to identify the “weak areas” that, after a reconsideration in unified terms of European cooperation policies, should be the object of new development interventions.     

Spain Following in the EU’s Footsteps: The Europeanization of Spatial Planning in its Autonomous Communities

Recent years have seen the emergence of the European dimension to the territorial planning conducted at lower scales, in a process described as the ‘Europeanization’ of spatial planning. Given that, to date, this phenomenon has received little attention as it affects Spain, this article seeks to analyse the impact of Europeanization on Spanish spatial planning, focused on an examination of its regional territorial plans. The results show that Spain has been no exception in the application of these European directives but, at the same time, its unique administrative organization means that the process of Europeanization remains slow and heterogeneous in its application.     

Strategic planning for internationalization—The European dilemma and some possible solutions

The crux of the European dilemma in international corporate planning lies in the frequent European fate as a way-station for manufacturers that begin their commercial lives in North America and end them in the Less Developed Countries. Thus, it is the companies in middle income countries like Europe (and Japan) that are going to have to be fastest on their feet. By and large, they have neither the first markets nor the last production sites. If they wish to survive, they will have to plan to take up and cast off products. Unless, of course, we wish to go back to the negotiated interwar, no or low growth environment. Fortunately, however, there probably is no going back. The cost to consumers of protected markets would be far too high to be acceptable.     

The current practice of bank long-range planning

This paper reports on a recent survey of long-range planning practices in 105 large United States banks. The survey results indicate that long range planning is a relatively new corporate activity with more than half the respondents initiating long range planning the last 5 years. To the extent these banks lead others, this finding suggests greater adoption of long range planning systems in small and medium size banks in the future. Profitability and growth goals are the primary goals quantified in the planning process. These goals are pursued via various strategies. Profit goals are typically pursued by improving pricing policies, adjusting mix and maturity of assets and liabilities to minimize adverse effects of interest rate fluctuations, managing spreads through proper loan pricing and bond portfolio management and tightening cost control with a particular emphasis on non-interest expense. Growth goals are achieved by branch expansion, use of bank holding companies, and increased market penetration through product diversification and sales training programmes designed to develop new business. In addition, information is presented on trends that appear to be developing in the area of long-range planning in the banking industry.