Environmental forecasting and non-profit professional organizations

To undertake any kind of realistic planning activity, it is useful to have a long-term environmental forecast which provides the planner with an overall perspective. The planner will be functioning over the next decade in a very dynamic, complex and challenging political, economic, technological and social environment, and will require very effective planning efforts to cope with such changing environment. This article presents an approach and methodology that a planner could use in his/her organization's planning process. To the best of our knowledge, very few organizations—profit and non-profit oriented—undertake a formal long-term environmental forecast. This article might encourage several planners to examine this area of long range planning in their respective organizations. The long- term environmental forecasting approach presented in this article could be applied by planners in all types of organizations—small or large, profit oriented or non-profit oriented, old or new. This article, however, is based on a study which the authors did for a non-profit organization.     

Organizational implications for long range planning

Much long range planning has ignored the need to change the firm's organization as its environment changes. Research demonstrates that those organizations which are effective have structures and behaviour which are congruent with their environments. To ensure that organizations can cope and adapt to future changes in environmental conditions long range planners need to take into consideration the appropriate development of both the organization and its members. This needs a multi-disciplinary approach in which behavioural scientists can play an important role. The Chemical Allied Products Industry Training Board has been developing a technology for examining organizations which could assist long range planners and managers to develop the organization and its members to suit the needs of future environmental change. This article discusses the many implications of these points.     

Interactive LP models in management—An analogue approach

The history is traced over 10 years of a project directed towards extending the use of Linear Programme methods by managers and planners themselves. Both computational aspects as they affect the end user, and possible alternatives to digital computation, are discussed in the light of practical experience and of recently proposed criteria for mathematical modelling in a managerial environment. The operating principles of an LP-based electronic analogue system are described, along with some of its observed implications in terms of human behaviour. It is concluded that LP and related techniques have hardly begun to exploit their potential, both as a control medium and as a language of managerial communication; that the concept of direct optimisation is largely irrelevant and has formed a barrier against implementation; and that the field of application for LP models is far wider than can be adduced by rigorous analysis, or by working to the practical bounds of digital computation.     

Making Competitive Cities in the Light of the Meta-SWOT Tool: A Case Study of Tehran,Iran

ABSTRACT

While there is a growing body of scholarship on regional competitiveness, little attention has been paid to the planning methods that can pursue this objective. Public planners are mainly relying on conventional methods that have come under increasing criticism. This study aims to introduce Meta-SWOT as a novel planning tool in urban and regional studies. Meta-SWOT provides competitive and realistic strategies for planners. It systematically tries to present strategies rooted in internal resources and capabilities while acknowledging the challenges posed by the external environment. Nevertheless, it has several limitations that should be considered when applying to urban and regional planning.     

Consumers,clothing retailers and production planning and control in the smart city

Abstract

Though there has been much talk of smart cities, it is still unclear what the concept means and what the role of their inhabitants might be in the development of such cities. There is a tendency to focus on technology and infrastructure and forget that cities are places for people to live. To counter this, smart city planners need to recognise that people’s needs can and should influence and shape their environment, rather than concentrating too much on technology or the built environment. In order to understand how smart cities can serve the needs of their inhabitants, we will examine the specific example of the fashion clothing industry and its development of omni-channel retailing. This will show that retailers, driven by technology-smart and fashion-conscious consumers, are reshaping the clothing supply chain to achieve greater integration, flexibility and speed. Central to this process is the manufacturers’ ability to create production planning and control (PPC) systems capable of operating effectively in an omni-channel environment. The paper presents a Composite Model of Enterprise Planning which can aid the development of such PPC systems. The paper concludes that changes within the fashion clothing industry indicate how smart cities can develop and are developing, and that although these changes are facilitated by technology, they are driven by the necessity to meet consumers’ needs.     

Making quality a fundamental part of strategy

All that is known about strategy and strategic planning indicates that quality is a major factor in gaining competitive advantage. It is cost effective, profitable, promotes corporate longevity and builds an important company value system. The authors argue that is too important a factor to be left solely to quality control personnel or planners and is a fundamental part of the chief executive's responsibility for the development of strategy.     

Public participation in corporate planning— strategic management in a Kibitzer's world

In this article the author argues that there are three main challenges for the company which wishes to be known for its strategic prowess. These are the need to search a changing environment with respect to both threats and opportunities. The second challenge is to ensure organizational response, while the third—that which is least understood—is the challenge of coping with an active intrusive environment which is made up of individuals and organizations which seek to influence the strategic decision of the enterprise.The author does not offer a series of ready-made answers to the problems posed, but rather, suggests that planners need to take cognizance of the third challenge when developing strategies.     

What Should Planners Do to Address Unethical Political Pressure?

This paper presents the case study of three planners who risked their jobs to oppose unethical political pressures in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. It attempts to understand what was done by these planners to address those pressures and what lessons could we learn from their experiences. This research found that in a hostile political environment where unethical political pressure is strong, and voicing is of little help, unique actions of procedural planning (exit, deny-exit-and-expose, and defend), deontological in nature, may have to be adopted. If that is not adequate one should also consider de-communicating or manipulative actions, teleological in approach.     

Currency exposure management

Few long range planners can be unaware that exchange rates have been unstable since the late 1960s. After the relative stability of the Bretton Woods era, the world is now in a state of floating currencies, in which exchange rate fluctuations have become an important factor in the business environment. Companies should recognize different types of currency risk exposure and define their corporate objectives, including an assessment of whether the corporate position is to be defensive or whether some well-controlled exposure is desirable.     

A multi-user tool for enhancing the daily replanning and control of visits in home care services

The uncertainty associated with patients’ demands and operators’ availabilities is the main complexity factor in planning health care activities. Thus, activity replanning is required to react to the variations and to guarantee a good service quality. A particularly complex replanning activity is required in Home Care (HC) services, where any variation to the plans involves several decisions related, e.g. to nurses’ travels. Such complexity makes impossible for planners to integrate and to effectively handle all of the information in real time with the classical HC management tools. In this work, we design, implement and validate a new visualisation tool to support HC planners in handling the data, to better perform their replanning activities. The tool consists of a desk equipped with an interactive map, where up to four planners can manage the information together in a multilayer configuration. This solution allows to manage the high amount of data in a more effective and natural way than the tabular form of the current commercial tools, due to both the horizontal map visualisation and the multilayer information provisioning. The prototype has been tested with real HC planners and expert users; outcomes show the capability to meet the gap between planners and information complexity, and to provide adequate support for replanning HC activities.     

What kind of corporate planner do you need?

The planning literature ignores distinctions among types of plans and types of planners. Consequently, a systematic pairing of planners and a company's level of planning need is not well understood or implemented in practice. This paper provides two missing links in order to bridge this shortfall between theory and practice. One is a planning matrix which establishes six possible planning modes for a company based on its stage of development and management style. The second is a distinction between three types of planners who would be appropriate to each planning mode. The matrix plus the three categories of planners provides a new tool for management in its responsibility for planning the job of the corporate planner. In doing so, it also surfaces some underlying causes of organizational strain and stress associated with the corporate planner's position.     

DIMENSIONS OF UTILITY IN A REGIONAL PLANNING CONTEXT*

City and regional planners exist in an environment where they must satisfy numerous contending pressure groups. This paper illustrates an application of utility and decision theory in one such situation: the selection of a “land-use plan” for a large rural area in a southeastern state. The planning group was required to generate a utility matrix for a set of alternative plans consistent with their perceived hierarchy of needs for the region in question. Subsequently, expected value calculations were used to determine the optimal plan. The examination concludes with a discussion of the reliability and sensitivity of this approach, along with an exploration of areas for possible utilization and the problems attendent thereto.     

Relocation or dislocation?—A planned approach to location

The commercial success, or indeed the survival, of an enterprise depends on forward thinking. Whether planners use sophisticated planning and modelling techniques or simply rely on hunches the objective of their planning is to project the economic environment, the market for goods and services, technological developments, etc. It is a fact, however, that relatively few enterprises, except those engaged in physical distribution, appreciate the often critical strategic importance of the location of their operations. The author deals with the factors involved in any decision to relocate.     

Corporate planning in local government—a case study

The authors set out their view of the peculiar problems facing corporate planners in local government as compared with the private sector and their view of the nature of corporate planning in this special environment. By way of illustration as to how one local authority has attempted to introduce corporate planning, the article includes a case study of the City of Bradford Metropolitan Council.     

The politics of evaluation research

Despite enormous outlays of federal monies for social programs in the United States, many social problems toward which these funds have been directed have shown little remission. In some cases, the problems have worsened. Increasingly, social planners and administrators are being required to offer some proof concerning the efficacy of their particular program before Congress will refund them. Evaluation research has come to serve this legitimization function. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the political environment surrounding evaluation research, “objective” research often proves impossible. Even the most carefully designed and well-implemented evaluation is often sabotaged by political factors. The nature of the roles that various actors in the political environment feel compelled to play vis à vis evaluation research creates problems that directly affect ultimate research quality. This article seeks to identify the nature of this problem, how it is manifested in the behaviour of various people in governmental power structures and how an environment might be designed to reduce the political volatility of evaluation research.     

Youth Master Plans as Potential Roadmaps to Creating Child- and Youth-friendly Cities

Communities across the globe are focusing on the needs of young people and their families in an effort to create child- and youth-friendly cities. In an attempt to become more child and youth friendly, over 40 communities in the United States have developed youth master plans (YMPs), as of 2009; however, our understanding of these plans is limited. To broaden this understanding, this research employed a multiple-methods approach, including an online questionnaire, plan analysis and semi-structured interviews with key community informants. Findings show that YMPs often focus on collaboration among community entities and youth participation, yet include only general normative statements regarding the physical environment. Furthermore, urban planners do not typically take the lead in development of YMPs, and, in some cases, are not involved at all. To inform and improve future YMPs, this paper recommends greater focus on the physical environment, particularly in relation to safety, access to nature and sustainable transportation.     

The use of scenarios in corporate planning—eight case histories

In response to an increasingly turbulent environment, many firms are attempting to develop means to assess proposed strategies in the light of plausible alternative futures. Probably the most widely adopted technique for this purpose is multiple scenario analysis (MSA). The extent of MSA adoption among corporations varies considerably depending upon respective planning experience and top management's involvement and interest in MSA itself. The gamut of MSA adoption is examined among eight representative large U.S. corporations. It is clear that, while corporate interest is high, current formal scenario generating methodology is too complex or academic for practical corporate use. Instead, planners are using their own informal approaches to scenario generation.     

Regional rail planning; a study of the importance of ‘steering’ and ‘pragmatism’ in stakeholder networks

This paper investigates the significance of networks in regional rail planning and how these networks can help regional planners meet the needs of local stakeholders. The research question focuses on the identification of the relative importance of three core factors in regional planning – communicative discourse, steering and environment. A case study of the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland was studied, with qualitative data analysed by triangulation through semi-structured interviews and social network analysis (SNA).     

Educating spatial planners for the age of co-creation: the need to risk community,science and practice involvement in planning programmes and curricula

Abstract

Planners are often billed as leaders and change agents of the (un)built environment. It is, however, important to recognize that they are in reality only one of many players in a sea of actors involved in shaping future developments and projects. Plans and interventions today are co-created and in fact co-evolve relying as much on the input, cooperation and actions of inhabitants, users, developers, politicians as on expert planners and a wide variety of other professions. In this introductory section, we, as editors of this special issue, posit that planners therefore require skills for co-creation drawing on science and working with other disciplines. In turn, planning programmes and curricula need to incorporate learning and teaching approaches that prepare students in higher education for working in co-creation settings by purposefully exposing them to learning environments that involve community, science and practice. The collection of papers, which were presented initially at the 2014 Association of European Schools of Planning congress in Utrecht hereafter showcase curriculum developments and pedagogical research of planning educators from different world regions that in the round shed light on a variety of issues and challenges of embedding learning and teaching for co-creation and co-evolution. In particular, we elaborate on the tensions of employing transformational yet high-risk pedagogies in higher education settings that are becoming increasingly risk-averse and streamlined and we suggest an agenda for planning curriculum development.