OBS 124
Unit 1: The Manager as a Planner and Strategist
Notes
Planning and strategy
Planning: Identifying and selecting appropriate goals; one of the four principal tasks of
management
Strategy: A cluster of decisions about what goals to pursue, what actions to take, and how to
use resources to achieve goals
Mission statement: A broad declaration of an organisations purpose that identifies the
organisation’s products and customers and distinguishes the organisation from its competitors
Three steps in planning
The Nature of the Planning Process
Essentially, to perform the planning task, managers:
o Establish and discover where an organisation is at the present time
o Determine where it should be in the future, its desired future state
o And decide how to move it forward to reach that future state
Why Planning is Important
1. Planning is necessary to give the organisation a sense of direction and purpose
2. Planning is a useful way of getting managers to participate in decision making about the
appropriate goals and strategies for an organisation
3. A plan helps coordinate managers of the different functions and divisions of an organisation to
ensure that they all pull in the same direction and work to achieve its desired future state
4. A plan can be used as a device for controlling managers within an organisation
Henri Fayol, the originator of the model of management, said that effective plans should have 4
qualities:
o Unity
o Continuity
o Accuracy
Unit 1: The Manager as a Planner and Strategist
Notes
Planning and strategy
Planning: Identifying and selecting appropriate goals; one of the four principal tasks of
management
Strategy: A cluster of decisions about what goals to pursue, what actions to take, and how to
use resources to achieve goals
Mission statement: A broad declaration of an organisations purpose that identifies the
organisation’s products and customers and distinguishes the organisation from its competitors
Three steps in planning
The Nature of the Planning Process
Essentially, to perform the planning task, managers:
o Establish and discover where an organisation is at the present time
o Determine where it should be in the future, its desired future state
o And decide how to move it forward to reach that future state
Why Planning is Important
1. Planning is necessary to give the organisation a sense of direction and purpose
2. Planning is a useful way of getting managers to participate in decision making about the
appropriate goals and strategies for an organisation
3. A plan helps coordinate managers of the different functions and divisions of an organisation to
ensure that they all pull in the same direction and work to achieve its desired future state
4. A plan can be used as a device for controlling managers within an organisation
Henri Fayol, the originator of the model of management, said that effective plans should have 4
qualities:
o Unity
o Continuity
o Accuracy
