Planning—Satisfaction and productivity

The areas of worker satisfaction and productivity have been of continual importance to managers of all types of organizations. Unfortunately, the analysis of these topics have usually been done in a segmented manner. This article attempts to develop a total conceptual scheme for planning to increase worker satisfaction and employee productivity. Both internal work and external environmental components are included in the models which examine social psychological, physical, and environmental components of the worker's life in a total system's approach.     

Planning for banking—The Indian experience

Long Range Planning (LRP) as an integrated total planning system had been accepted by two major public sector banks in India. The system through its maiden cycle was confronted by many difficulties, particularly regarding the application of the model. The paucity of adequate environmental data, lack of appreciation of the purpose of internal appraisal, avoidance of sophisticated quantitative techniques were some of the major problems faced by the Corporate Planning Team. The author explains his experiences as the co-ordinator of Corporate Planning Team for implementation in one of these banks. Despite the hurdles, the system has taken roots in his bank.     

Planning for a new international economic order?

Many a familiar planning instrument seems buried in the hot desert of the Persian Gulf: extrapolations, forecasts and projections. The corporate planner is now highly environmentally oriented. If he has recovered from the energy crisis, is conversant with the food emergency, and resigned to persistent inflation—he is about to face a new and unfamiliar phenomenon. It is ambitiously called “the new international economic order” (for the sake of brevity: NIEO).     

Planning problems of state road transport—India

This article focuses on some of the Planning Problems of State Road Transport Undertakings in India. It seeks to examine the environment in which the State Road Transport Undertakings are called upon to operate. It seeks to clarify the nature of the product and services rendered and also identify the constraints under which the State Road Transport Undertakings are called upon to operate. Finally the article seeks to examine certain strategic planning problems involved, such as nationalization of private operations, consolidation and expansion, traffic and route surveys and scheduling aspects. It is concluded that what ultimately matters is what the passenger gets and not what the undertaking plans and hence the article emphasises the importance of Operational Planning to meet the needs of the passenger as the basis of Corporate Planning for State Road Transport Undertakings. The issues examined in this article will be of relevance to State Road Transport Undertakings in other developing countries.     

Planning without vision— Roots of the urban disaster

Urban planning, especially in the United States, arose in reaction to the forces of industrialization. Yet urban development remained subordinate to the deeper powers of the rising technological order and failed to find an independent inspiration, ideal, or initiative by which cities could integrate the bewildering social changes. A kind of self-defeat is proclaimed in the very language of planning. How did this happen? Even to begin to perceive the causes, it is necessary to search in the history, philosophy, and customs of the society within which urban planning emerged.     

Planning a cost-effective cellular manufacturing process—a case study

The drive key is one of the most important high-precision components of aircraft braking systems. In this paper, a cost-effective drive key manufacturing process is developed. This proposed manufacturing process makes use of near net shape manufacturing, CNC machining, and cellular manufacturing methods. To make the proposed process a reality, proper engineering changes of the parts along with group technology are applied to the product design, in conjunction with the pro posed manufacturing methods. In addition, a general spread sheet program is developed for each style of fixture module to assist in part program coding. Moreover, statistical process control (SPC) is implemented to verify product quality and accept the product at the point of manufacture. It is observed that the implementation of the proposed drive key cellular manufacturing process results in a tremendous improvement in quality, throughput and productivity as well as a drastic reduction in manufacturing operations, workholding fixtures, cutting tools, and inspection media.     

Collaboration with Caveats: Research–Practice Exchange in Planning

Abstract

Researcher and practitioner collaboration in urban planning is both critical to good outcomes and problematic to achieve in reality. Collaboration has the potential for new partnerships, better research problem definition, improved research design and greater impact on practice and policy. However, politics, stakeholder agendas and funding bodies bring pressures and constraints, for which research professionals require a broader set of skills to manage. We examine researcher–practitioner collaboration as part of an action research project on urban greening in Australia. Focusing on a stakeholder engagement workshop, we examine the mechanisms used to overcome barriers to research-practice exchange. We find overt consideration of common barriers to access and use of research when planning collaboration exercises can help facilitate more productive engagement, creating spaces for mutual understanding and generating shared objectives. However, we also find that efforts at collaboration challenge traditional research practices, involve tensions and caveats, and require a different mode of researcher engagement.     

Children and Planning: To What Extent Does the Scottish Town Planning System Facilitate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

Children are often not given explicit attention in land use planning outside of allocating space for schools, parks and playgrounds. This is problematic as children both use and navigate beyond these settings, and findings from research on and with children report how they are frequently marginalized in society. This is partly affected by the way town planning systems treat children's spatial needs and participation. Therefore, this article investigates whether and how the Scottish town planning system acknowledges children, particularly in light of the internationally recognized rights set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It uses critical discourse analysis of key Scottish planning policies, along with a survey of Scotland's planning authorities to ascertain the extent to which children are provided for and participate in the system. It argues that children's rights are not widely acknowledged or incorporated into town planning policy and practice, and suggests this must be addressed to achieve greater social justice and support Scotland's commitments as a signatory of the UNCRC.     

Planning for the older manager— Collaborative research in Norwegian business

This action learning/action research project involves 12 of Norway's largest companies who have committed themselves to study upward and downward management mobility. Two larger reports have been completed, one in Norwegian and one in English. New projects are being started with groups of companies in Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany with a possibility of other projects in the United States, England and Denmark. This paper represents a brief summary of the project and is divided into two parts. In the first part the four phases of the project are reviewed, including both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The second part contains some of the results obtained.     

Realizing Benefits from Enterprise Resource Planning: Does Strategic Focus Matter?

A key driver of the recent wave of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations was the assumption that the integration of business information would provide firms with a competitive advantage, yet concrete business benefits have been uneven across adopting firms. A possible explanation is that although the resource‐based view holds that competitive advantage is derived from inimitable resources, ERP software has become a commodity. Socio‐technical theory suggests that internal organizational resources based on a foundation of ERP technology may be the true drivers of ERP benefits. A firm's strategic configuration is posited to influence the portfolio of organizational competencies available to leverage the benefits of integrated business information, and a number of hypotheses are developed based on the notion that firms with different strategic objectives will realize different operational benefits from the adoption of ERP systems. Survey data from North American manufacturing firms that have implemented ERP systems demonstrate that ERP adopters seeking operational performance improvements are likely to realize these benefits. On the other hand, those seeking external market and supply chain performance improvements must first establish a foundation of internal operational performance improvements before customer satisfaction and supply chain benefits can be realized.     

‘Fantasies of Consensus:’ Planning Reform in Sydney, 2005–2013

This paper examines the battle to reform and streamline the planning system in Sydney, Australia, between 2005 and 2013. It analyses the strategies the State of NSW has pursued to manage ongoing conflicts over development, and reflects on the challenges the State has encountered in its attempt to redefine democratic engagement, justify decisions, claim legitimacy and forge a consensus around a more pro-development planning system. While New South Wales’ planning reform strategies have pursued an apparently ‘post-political’ agenda (Swyngedouw, Apocalypse forever? Post-political populism and the spectre of climate change, Theory Culture and Society, 27(2–3):213–232, 2010), using policy solutions to depoliticize difficult decisions, the reform process has exacerbated rather than defused conflicts. The story raises questions about the extent to which the new governing strategies of a post-political era can offer effective forums to forge consensus, or to stage-manage agreement over metropolitan development conflicts.     

Strategic Planning in the Malawi Public Sector: Potential Tool for Progress or Regression?

The process of developing strategic plans in the public sector is regarded as one indicator of positive reform in the system. The assumption is that strategic planning ensures that (just like in the private sector) public sector organizations’ operations should cost less but deliver better service. Ultimately the argument is that public sector institutional governance and responsiveness to the citizenry is not only seen but felt. However, strategic planning has to be done in an appropriate manner for it to deliver. For instance an analysis of the underlying motives, the role of leadership in the process as well as the relevance or viability of the guiding strategic planning model significantly affect the nature of expected results. In the early 2000s, the Malawi public sector embarked on a serious drive towards strategic planning process as part of its reform package. In order to ascertain it’s potential to transform the Malawi public service, this paper focuses at critically analyzing the strategic planning process in the Malawi public sector by among other things asking: who initiated and led the process? What approach determined the process? What is the possible potentiality of the adopted strategic planning approach in enhancing the reform agenda in Malawi? Based on interviews with senior officers in key Malawi public sector institutions, the paper concludes that the strategic planning process is ‘transitional and fluid’ hence lacks the clout to effectively enhance reforms in this sector. Another finding is that lack of effective leadership has largely contributed to the status quo.     

Planning at gulf— A case study: Part I—Early developments of planning models

In this first part of the case study the authors introduced the background to the development of the planning models used by the Gulf Company. Both the Linear Programming model and the Sensitivity model are described, with discussion regarding the inter-relationship of these models and the discrete and mutual objectives behind their use.     

With or Without You?1 Strategic Spatial Planning and Territorial Re-Scaling in Grenoble Urban Region

Spatial planning across European city regions is undergoing substantial changes. The paper draws on the framework of territorial re-scaling, strategic spatial planning and the emergence of new governance modes in order to analyse strategic planning episodes in Grenoble urban region (France). The paper aims at showing how strategic planning processes by means of new governance arenas call into question local planning cultures, especially by reshaping planning perimeters, territorial identities and actors' roles. In particular, it shows the importance of path dependency for strategic planning, the effects of power imbalances between local actors and the crucial role planners play in spatial policy-making.     

Shared Ownership and Affordable Housing: A Political Solution in Search of a Planning Justification?

Planners in England routinely include shared ownership (SO) housing in the affordable housing element of new developments. Government policies in a number of European countries have also backed intermediate housing market mechanisms as a solution to housing affordability. The rhetoric of such mechanisms makes claims about its social progressiveness, its role in facilitating socio-economic mobility and helping people move from rented accommodation into full owner-occupation. SO schemes in England have been justified on the grounds of being transitional tenures and planners have accepted SO on this basis. However, given the paucity of rigorous empirical work, there is a concern that this is a policy based on assumption rather than evidence. This paper delineates existing knowledge, clarifies dimensions of the intermediate housing market and highlights underlying policy issues based on a large data-set of shared owners in England. Our analysis indicates that SO may not be appropriately classified as affordable housing, and justifiable policy requires further evidence.     

Blending Individual Tenacity with Government’s Responsibility in the Implementation of US Non-motorized Transportation Planning (NMT)

Human powered traveling is filled with risks. It takes individual tenacity to walk and bicycle in many US city streets. The danger of being injured or fatally killed requires responsible government action and a new repoliticization of the transportation priorities. This paper examines the risks involved in exercising the right to walk and bicycle and the authority’s responsibility to account for the health, safety and well-being of all individuals. I argue that the implementation of broadly agreed upon non-motorized transportation planning is critical to the success of public policies. The paper reviews concepts, prior policies and trends, remaining dilemmas and planning implications of US non-motorized transportation planning.     

Introduction to Special Issue: ‘Translating Urban Planning Research and Pedagogy into Practice: An Australian perspective’

Abstract

The six papers in this special issue describe a deep schism in the relationships between research, teaching and practice, with a focus on Australia. There are many reasons why translating urban research and pedagogy into practice has increased in importance in recent years. This introduction provides three negative factors—decreasing funding, relevance and voice—and two more positive factors—the rise of the ‘pracademic’ and increasing social media forms of interaction. The papers describe how the empirical and theoretical foci of planning research are symbiotic, presenting challenges and opportunities for linking practice, teaching and research into positive change.     

Let the Citizens Map—Public Participation GIS as a Planning Support System in the Helsinki Master Plan Process

Current public participation methods are laborious, reach few participants and are ineffective at gathering usable information for planning. This situation leads often to mistrust and dissatisfaction in the process and outcome. This article identifies the critical conditions for meaningful use of public participation GIS (PPGIS) tools to support the making of master plan in Helsinki. With PPGIS tools, residents’ insight of their living environment can be reached and utilized along the planning process. The results are divided to conceptual and empirical points. Whereas the conceptual points emphasize better understanding of the locus of the PPGIS tools in planning process, the empirical findings reveal new ways to study how residents’ perceptions align with the plan proposal. Though new tools, data and analysis can support representativeness, independence, early involvement, influence and transparency, planners and residents need more understanding of the benefits of these tools. The study indicates that though planners found the collected data and the analysis valuable, they still lacked the skills and institutional motivation to use the data effectively. The results point out that when PPGIS tools can be integrated to the mainstream planning practices, the tools have the ability to evolve to a more comprehensive participatory planning support system.     

Planning Playgrounds to Facilitate Children’s Pretend Play: A Case Study of New Suburbs in Perth Western Australia

Playgrounds are important features of residential areas. Their design influences child play behaviour, particularly ‘pretend play’. With a growing number of young families moving into new suburbs, investigation into the extent to which pretend play is considered in playground design is an important planning issue. This is the focus of this research. Three playgrounds in Perth, Western Australia, were chosen as case studies, and intercept surveys of parents supervising children at these playgrounds and observation of the children behaviour were carried out. Park managers, landscape architects and community facilities managers from outer metropolitan councils were also interviewed. A key finding was that multi-purpose play equipment, particularly sand and themed playgrounds, best fostered pretend play. Further, while local government officers were supportive of pretend play, several factors limit the inclusion of pretend play features into playground designs, primarily risk management. Officers acknowledged that high-risk play was conducive to pretend play, but the need to reduce risk was the main consideration for playground design. The overall conclusion was that pretend play is neglected in playground designs, therefore greater education is needed of the value of pretend play in playground design needed, including the role of risk.