Corporate planning for a town—a case history

Corporate planning is relatively new in U.K. local government. This article suggests the reasons behind this late development, and outlines the particular problems in local government and the approach adopted in one authority. The author's philosophy is that there is no blueprint for introducing corporate planning and that any approach must be evolutionary, reflecting local circumstances. The article covers the period from 1971 outlining the four main stages of development and includes the effects of local government reorganization in 1974. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the borough.     

Corporate planning in domestic airlines— An Indian case study

In this article the author considers the problems of planning in the airline industry, drawing specifically on experience in the domestic Indian airline. The article seeks to examine some of the strategic issues relevant to domestic airlines which, while related here to the Indian environment, may be seen to be pertinent in most developing countries.     

The strategic planning matrix—a quantitative approach

This article introduces a new strategy formulation analytical tool called the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). QSPM represents an objective approach for evaluating and choosing among alternative strategies in both small and large organizations. Several practical applications of QSPM are provided. The positive features and practical limitations of QSPM are described. A number of useful tips for effective strategy formulation are presented.     

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.     

Marketing electricity—A military approach

Marketing offers electric utilities an effective method for combating increased competition in end-use markets. Based on concentration, manoeuvre and speed, utilities can mount a strategic offensive. Such a campaign may involve one or more of the following elements: (1) become customer- and competitor-oriented throughout the organization; (2) set a command structure to integrate demand-side and supply-side options into a unified business plan; (3) seize the initiative from the competition by exploiting the unique attributes of electricity in a few, strategically selected market segments and conducting penetration attacks; (4) develop new uses of electricity to compensate for the saturation and efficiency of existing uses, and conducting flank attacks and guerilla attacks; (5) offer a menu of pricing options based on the differing needs of customers in separate market segments; and (6) in markets where electric use is dominant, conduct 'attack yourself' strategies to improve efficiency.     

Planned divestment—A five-step approach

Corporate strategy is a risk business. However good management is, the best it can do is to improve the hit rate. As a result, companies have a continual need for divesting their less successful operations. Human nature being what it is, however, there is a tendency to suppress admission of failure. Divestments are often buried darkly at the dead of night. In consequence, firms fail to realize the true value of their divestments. The authors propose a superior approach which has produced successful results for a number of their clients over the years. It requires placing the same degree of professionalism and effort on divestment as on investment decisions and pays dividends in terms of a greater sale value for companies.     

Long range planning for public libraries—A Delphi study

Library managers in the local authority sector are increasingly needing to forecast future developments in order to have any chance of obtaining a realistic share of available resources. The Public Libraries Research Group, which was founded in 1971, produced a statement on public library aims and objectives and as a follow up to this carried out a Delphi exercise in 1973/74 to try and establish what technological, environmental, socio-economic and political pressures would effect developments in this field in the next 30 years. This was the first exercise of its type to be carried out in the United Kingdom and the full results have been published recently by the Public Libraries Research Group as a report. This paper describes how the project was evolved and carried out.     

Long range planning in large United States Corporations—A survey

This paper presents the results of a survey of the application of strategic and corporate planning in 500 large U.S. Corporations. The authors sought to update and provide new understanding on a number of important issues including; the extent of long range planning in these firms, the organizational structure of their planning function, the prevailing attitude towards long range planning in the firm, the planning process in terms of content and revision frequency, and the perceived benefits and problems associated with long range planning. In concentrating upon these issues the authors provide an interesting and important insight into the current application of strategic and corporate planning processes as well as giving a number of indications as to where the theory lags behind the practice.     

Organization for long range planning—A survey of German companies

Whilst much is written about the theory of long range planning it is a fact that unfortunately, the organization of long range planning of business strategy within companies, has not proved to be an attractive object of research for business theorists. This paper is the exception. By an examination of more than 200 companies residing in the Federal Republic of Germany, long range planning is shown to be gaining more importance as a tool for company management. The organizational design of the planning system and its integration into the overall company structure is, according to this analysis, shown to be one of the most central problems of the implementation of corporate planning systems. This paper presents a theoretical framework and the empirical findings on structural and procedural aspects of long range planning, systems. The empirical study was carried out by means of interviews and a questionnaire survey. The survey results show some interesting and important features of the problems engendered by corporate planning and some of the advantages accruing from its successful implementation. Additionally, the analysis provides an interesting backcloth against which to view the implementation of planning and the relationships between the different levels of planning.     

Leveraging information technology for EHS management—A practical approach

Information Technology (IT), simply defined as a system to manage the exchange of information, is available in several different forms including off-the-shelf databases, custom-built programs, Web-based software, or a combination of electronic and paper records. Whatever its form a wisely selected IT-based solution can be of great use to an environmental, health and safety (EHS) department, especially in a time of corporate downsizing and diminished resources. Broadly applicable EHS IT solutions not only save time and money, but they can also earn an environmental department positive exposure and increased visibility throughout the company. The following article delineates a practical, nontechnical process to guide the environmental manager in designing and assessing information technology solutions.     

The use of a model in long term planning—A case history

Long term planning in companies can range from the partial simplistic approach to a structured time-consuming ritual. Either extreme can bring planning into disrepute, and both reflect the lack of the proper tools of the trade. Models, by themselves, are no panacea, but properly conceived, constructed, and developed they can transform the planning process. The key to effective and practical models is use, and this can be achieved through direct management involvement on the model's development, and by making sure the model is basically simple and flexible. This article describes how such a model was constructed using a modular approach, and how it was used effectively in long term planning.     

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.     

A pro-active and collaborative approach to reverse logistics—a case study

Reverse logistics is considered to be the key for re-manufacturing and sustainable development. It has gained increasing attention in the last decade and has been a new frontier of strategic management. One of the driving forces for firms to adopt the reverse logistics practice is cost saving from reverse logistics activities. Another motivation to put reverse logistics forward is probably due to environmental impacts on non-returnable materials. Reverse logistics, however, may require cooperation of more than one company and hence it is generally poorly managed due to self-interest of different companies. Therefore, a pro-active and collaborative approach to reverse logistics is demanded. This paper reports a case study of using returnable packaging materials between a manufacturer and an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supplier. A cross-company team was established to pursue the goal of the reverse logistics project. Tangible and intangible benefits of reverse logistics from this case study are presented in this paper.     

Keeping people alive— The implications for planning

Current and future developments of medical techniques, especially those concerned with resuscitation and intensive care, will result in more people living much longer in the future. Their treatment and care will be very expensive, and this will require consideration of priorities. In this article some ethical attitudes are suggested, and a number of practical planning measures to anticipate some of the inevitable problems are proposed.     

Scenario planning—What style should you use?

Recently, increasing emphasis is being placed by corporate planners and forecasters on the use of scenario analysis to produce forecasts of future business environments and to identify conditions leading to major changes in these enviroments. This article compares some of the major approaches to scenario analysis, including intuitive logics (SRI International), trend-impact analysis (The Futures Group), and cross-impact analysis (The Center for Futures Research and Battelle Columbus Division). The advantages and disadvantages of each approach are discussed as well.     

Strategic planning and product innovation—Some systematic approaches

Companies interact with society. The desires and needs of society change. If an enterprise wants to continue to function, then it must adapt its course to the changes. Such a process of adaptation occurs in two stages. In the first, the strategy of the enterprise must be formulated. This strategy forms the dynamic framework for the second phase—product innovation. In this second phase future strategy is made concrete by launching new or improved products on the market. This whole adaptation process has organizational consequences for the relationship between the enterprise and society, for the internal organizational structure and for the human beings involved in the process. These consequences are discussed briefly in this paper. The paper concludes with an example taken from practice, which shows clearly that the transformation of theory into practice is very definitely not free from problems.