Every organization is developed through formulation of a plan. The plan can be either arbitrarily present in the mind of the founder or well documented by a panel of experts after due deliberations. The size and operational level of the organization determine the extent to which expertise are applied for the formulation of the organizational plan. An organizational plan forms the basis of an organization through defining its mission, vision, values, structure, size, type, processes, resources and strategies etc. The organizational plan for a fictional company named zRock Inc. is developed in this paper that requires detailed considerations to be undertaken due to fact that the company is a medium level organization.
Organizational Chart
zRock Inc. is a four level organization. The details of these levels of the organizational structure are mentioned below:-
- Stakeholders
The very first level consists of stakeholders of the company who are the investors. The company is a public company hence the investors and the stakeholders of the company are the shareholders thus they form the first level of the organization. Although, shareholders do not possess direct functional and operational control over the company but they influence the selection of members of the Board who form the second level of the organization and are responsible for taking strategic level decisions for the company.
- Board of Directors
The second level consists of seven (07) directors from various departments of the company. These directors are responsible for their departments and represent their departments in the board meetings. The second level is also the top management of the company. Each director is responsible for defining and implementing departmental objectives in-line with the company’s vision and mission statements.
- Section in-charges
Each section of the company is headed by a section in-charge. All the section in-charges are answerable to their respective directors and lead their section towards the direction set by their directors.
- Workers
Workers are the real workforce who are responsible for carrying out specific tasks as per the instructions given to them by their section in-charges.
The figure below shows the organizational chart of the organization:-
The organization is headed by a Board of Directors whereas shareholders are the primary stakeholders of the organization. The Board of Directors consists of following seven (07) directors from various departments of the organization. The duties and responsibilities of each director is also mentioned below:-
- Director Legal Department: Responsible for providing legal services to the rest of the board members. Primary job is to handle all the matters, issues faced by the company pertaining to legal nature.
- Director Finance Department: Responsible for providing guidance on financial matters to rest of the board members. Primary job is to manage companies’ finances.
- Director Production Department: Responsible for meeting production tasks as set out by the company’s management. Primary job is to keep company’s production up and running as per the production targets.
- Director Investment Department: Responsible for study of planning, research and development of new projects. Primary job is to ensure that company is investing in the right direction.
- Director Marketing Department: Responsible for marketing the company’s products in the target market. Primary job is to keep sales volume to optimum level.
- Director Technical Department: Responsible for providing technical and engineering support services to the production department. Primary job is to resolve any technical issues that arise within the company.
- Director Human Resource Department: Responsible for hiring of suitable staff as per the company’s requirements. Primary job is to fulfill company’s human resource capital needs through recruitment and training.
Company’s Vision, Mission and Values
A company’s vision statement places focus on the potential characteristics of its future and what the company intends to become. This can be an answer to “what” the company wants to be in future. On the other hand, the answer to the question of “how” that future state can be achieved by that company is defined in its mission statement . A company’s values are the operating principles that guide its organizational behavior including its relationship with customers, and shareholders. Following are the vision, mission, and values of zRock Inc.:-
- Vision Statement
“To help the incapacitated people enjoy their lives as normal as possible”
- Mission Statement
“Customized aiding devices are not made by accident”
- Values
Following are the seven (07) core values of zRock Inc.:-
- Open and honest relationship with customers
- Good after sales services
- Exceptional product quality
- Customized products for customers’ needs
- Welfare of the needy ones
- Building team spirit
- Pursuing learning and growth
Basic Planning Process (BPP)
Following is the basic planning process for zRock Inc.:-
1. Setting Objectives
A company’s vision is achieved through defining certain goals and objective. Goals can be of both qualitative and quantitative nature. Achieving goals in an organization requires development of plans that start with basic planning process. The very first step in basic planning process is setting goals of the plan. Goals are the final outcome of a plan that is intended to be achieved by implementation of the plan. Goals must be realistic, measurable and verifiable in order to make a feasible plan. Objectives of a plan are set out by the top management while considering the opportunities available to the organization. The goal establishment is affected by the company’s vision, mission, values and resources .
Following are the quantitative and qualitative objectives of the company’s basic plan:-
- Quantitative
- Increase the Market share by 05 % per year
- Increase the ROI by 2% per year
- Improve customer satisfaction by 10 points per year
- Increase brand equity by 5% per year
- Qualitative
- Increase attitudes branding value
- Increase brand awareness in the market
- Improve brand image in the market
- Effectively position the brand in the market
2. Defining planning conditions:
Prior to the start of actual planning process, various conditions are considered for the development of the basic plan. This step also involves considering various assumptions in the planning process. These assumptions are identified through forecasting in a calculated manner. The assumptions and conditions include facts pertaining to forecasting information. This step also includes an overall assessment of the environment that helps in the identification of opportunities as well as limitations of the organization.
The management of zRock Inc. may need to consider following conditions for the basic planning process:-
- The data pertaining to disabled persons in the target market
- Features offered in similar products by other companies
- Government policies and taxes
- Legal and environmental concerns
- Analysis of internal and external forces
- Contingency planning
3. Identifying Limitations:
The ability to successfully achieve organizational objectives depend on a number of constraints and limitations faced by an organization. Identifying limitations in a plan plays vital role in making the objectives realistic. Limitations must be identified at the start of planning process along with careful anticipation of the future events. An accurate analysis of the company’s weaknesses helps to determine the limitations of company’s plans .
The key limitations for zRock Inc. are mentioned below:-
- Human resource capital
- Material resources
- Equipment
- Finances
4. Scheduling:
Scheduling plays important role in determining the time required for completion of the overall plan. Scheduling is required to be carried out for each task and a suitable method for it should be implemented. Critical path method is chosen by zRock Inc. for scheduling of the basic plan in which a critical path is recognized as the set of activities that control the completion time of the plan . The planning period should be kept appropriate in order to avoid any unnecessary pressure or relaxation imposed to the working level employees. Paths other than the critical path are required to be given suitable time instead of giving relaxed time in order to avoid making any other set of activities a critical path during execution.
5. Development of strategies:
Strategies development depends on the information gathered up by the previous steps. This is the actual plan for the company that is developed for implementation. This step is carried out while considering the identified limitations and schedule of the plan. zRock Inc. will develop separate strategies for production, marketing and distribution of the products. The pricing and branding strategies will be a part of marketing strategy.
6. Development of operational plans:
Operational plans are the detailed plans for the section in-charges. These plans are kept well in-line with the strategic plans. An effective implementation of operational plans ensures success of the basic plan. zRock Inc. will develop detailed operational plans for the section in-charges while consulting them and giving them opportunities to take part in the decision making process.
7. Plans Integration:
All the operational level plans are not only required to be in-line with the strategies and policies of the company but they are required to be integrated in order to achieve the overall objectives in an effective manner. An effective communication among various sections and departments of zRock Inc. will be maintained in order to achieve plans integration.
Influence of management levels on BPP
Each management level influences the basic planning process to some extent. In case of zRock Inc., the top level management plays vital role in carrying out basic planning at the strategic level. The objectives of a basic plan are defined in-line with the company’s vision and mission statement by the top level management. Top level management is also responsible for taking inputs from the middle and low level management while developing the basic plans for the company.
The middle level management that consists of section in-charges are responsible for giving their inputs in the basic planning process regarding their available resources and capacity. The input received from middle level management is the concise form of information received from bottom level management. The bottom level management is the operational level management that provides details pertaining to working level resources, skills, and limitations. This information is of critical importance in formulation of basic plans of a company.
The middle level management derives results and portray the information received from the lower level management in graphical form to enable top level management in taking effective decisions in the planning process. Alternate options and contingency plans are also based on the inputs received from the bottom level management.
Importance of quality in the BPP
Quality of product is an important aspect that needs due consideration in the basic planning process. The level of quality is to be clearly identified in the plans of a company. High level of quality requires an in-depth analysis of company’s resources and formulation of basic plans. zRock Inc. understands the importance of good quality products and will include the quality of products in the basic plan. The quality of products will be kept comparable to the best products available in the market while including as many features as possible.
Maintaining high quality of products is carried out by the bottom level management . The inputs pertaining to the company’s ability to produce products at a certain quality level will be taken from bottom level management and the same will be monitored and evaluated by a separate section in zRock Inc.
Importance of productivity in BPP
Productivity of a company greatly affects the basic planning process through limiting the production targets. An efficient productivity level ensures smooth implementation of the plans and the initially set objectives are achieved through it. Productivity of zRock Inc. will be determined through close communication with the production department. Director Production Department will be responsible for providing an accurate estimate of the company’s productivity for inclusion in the basic planning process.
Importance of profitability in BPP
Profitability of an organization has significant impact on its basic planning process. A company formulates its plans with the sole purpose of generating profits. Profitability defines feasibility of a plan to recover the invested finances and making profits over them. Profits are the prime concern of the top level of a company that are the shareholders in case of zRock Inc.
HR planning activities and organizational strategy
Business strategies have been revolutionized all over the world in past few years keeping in view the essential role of HR. Previously it was merely a department to handle human capital issues but now the business strategies are technically incorporated in activities and policies of HR. HR is mainly responsible to make best use of KSA (knowledge, skill, Abilities) of available human capital and for that, high level of professional planning is needed. The management of zRock Inc. is committed to design strategic HR planning so as to support the company to attain set objectives and milestones.
Following are the steps in strategic development of HR activities of zRock Inc. with detailed description.
- Organization strategic planning and Identification of Goals
This step involves thorough documentation of strategic planning and course of actions to be taken in future for the accomplishment of objectives. This involves the underpinning of levels of technical and managerial expertise required to achieve goals. The long term and short term goals need to be delineate in an explained manner so as to strive for the unified set of objectives.
- Identifying required set of competencies
This step entails the identification of required proficiencies and competencies to foster the flow of activities in an effective mode. Competencies are clearly communicated to all the managerial, technical and staff level employees.
- Assessing existing Human resource aptitude
This step involves careful evaluation of already existing human capital and the level of knowledge and expertise they have.
- Projecting Future requirements
This is a crucial step as it involves estimation of future requirements of human capacity and provides the details to conduct training and recruitment sessions. The main questions of this steps are as follows
- Set of skills needed
- Analyzing Gap
Analyzing the created gap between present and future human capital need is a critical step and it helps to take necessary action in order to support future workload and work activities. The main questions under consideration during analysis are listed below.
- What new expertise required?
- What are inefficiencies of present human capital?
- Are the recent HR policies can meet the upcoming needs of the business?
- Are the number of experts and supervisor is enough?
- Design training and development
HR managers are responsible to conduct training and development sessions for the employees at all levels in order to acquaint them with latest knowledge and skills needed to perform efficiently and effectively.
- Designing strategic HR policies to achieve goals
HR policies are integrated into the strategic goals of the organization and in today’s business world human capital is considered as an asset to company. Technology and financial resources cannot bring success to company without having a competitive human resource who is willing to own organization. zRock Inc. value its people and the goals of the people are linked to the goals of the company. Success of the company means prosperity and success of its employees. HR policies related to compensation, medical facilities, non-monetary/monetary perk, induction, promotion and other policies are designed in a strategic manner. This step determines the type of strategy needs to be implemented which can be restructuring, outsourcing, alliance, staffing or training and development strategy as per the requirements of the company.
- Evaluate and Monitor
This step includes the evaluation of the applied strategies and policies in order to facilitate the work activities. The evaluation tends to highlight the deviation from the projected results and corrective actions are taken simultaneously to rectify any aberration.
Philosophy of management
The philosophy of management tends to reflect the conviction of top brass towards the practices and polices being implemented to carry out business. It clarifies the core concepts and presumptions of the management and determines the pattern of decision making, organization structure and level of control. The organizational chart of zRock Inc. clearly reflects that it has thorough departmentalization and each head is responsible for the activities being carried in it. The management believes in empowering people and giving them full authority to take finest possible decision in the best interest of the company as per the situation arises. The management of zRock Inc. is devoted to promote the culture of knowledge sharing, team work, politics free, novelty oriented, reciprocal trust and respect, robust leadership, passionate employee, customer obsession, equity, healthy working ambiance, rewards etc. These characteristics are a source of self-driven power of motivation for employee to confer completely to the success of the company.
Steps of control
Controlling is used to direct the flow of activities in the desired direction and it assures that programmed outcome conformed to the actual one. Control is a substantial step and zRock Inc. implement forth mentioned steps of control and use them as yardstick to ensure success of business and smooth flow of activities.
- Establish standards
Standards are the criteria used to measure the actual performance or outcome it can be:-
a) Qualitative
Qualitative standards could be used to measure employee satisfaction, customer trust, effectiveness of marketing campaign, brand value etc.
b) Quantitative
Quantitative standards are measurable like the number of sales, number of returned clients, fixed and variable cost, Gross and net profit generated, expenses etc.
It is generally suggested to make quantitative standards but advancement in technology has made is substantially easily to measure qualitative standards as well. Standards should be clearly communicated to employees and responsibilities and duties of each individual employee should be documented and communicated accordingly.
- Gauge actual outcome
This step is related to measure the actual performance done by employees and to determine the overall result in real timeframe.
- Compare standard against actual outcome
This step demands the comparison between the actual and planned performance and it is estimated whether the deviation is above or under the set standard. The aberration can be encouraging if the performance is more than the expectation and likewise it can go in `undesirable direction if actual performance turned out to be less than the set level. If the undesirable deviation is significant enough to be reported then it is immediately conveyed to the concerned departments.
- Remedial actions
Once the deviation has been spotted corrective actions are taken quickly in order to fix the root cause of the issue. Management is committed to take action so as to circumvent any such inconvenience in future.
- Feedback/Monitor
Feedback is taken once the corrective measures are implemented to re-fix the deviance. It is thoroughly monitored whether the problem is completely removed or the measures taken are sufficient. It right decisions are timely taken then the actual outcome level will meet up the desired level.
Types of controls
Management studies have establish three broad categories of control depending on the time and can be implemented before commencement of activities, in the middle of and after the completion of activities. The management of zRock Inc. believes in taking simultaneously corrective action (Concurrent Control) to escalate the chances of results close to the estimated figure. These three types are precisely discussed below with greater emphasis on the method adopted by the management of zRock Inc.
- Feed forward Control
This type of control is applied before the initiation of activities by focusing on the resources of organization like men, material, organizational structure, delegation of authority. This type of control are aimed at avoiding any unfavorable incident in future but it requires highly specific and accurate information about the situation which is mostly not possible as business environment is highly volatile and dynamic. The basic aim of this control is to take preemptive measure to ensure complete submission to the desired situation.
- Concurrent Control
This type of control is the most desirable type as it take corrective and precautionary actions as the activities proceed. It affirms that final outcome is exactly as desired and it requires clear understanding of the workflow and the ability to rectify any deviation readily. In “zRock Inc.” management preferably implement this control as it has several checkpoints to govern whether to stop or continue production. This type of control enable the management to take actions accordingly and immediately before it gets too late. It gives an opportunity to minimize loss of time and money.
- Feedback Control
This type of control is applied after the completion of activities and depending on the deviation caused. This type of control help the managers to gain better perceptive of situation in case of failure.
Conclusion
Organizational plan plays an important role in defining the organizational structure and identifying role and task of each position in the organization. The plan of zRock Inc. is well documented in this report through inclusion of organizational chart, mission & vision statements, values, processes, resources and strategies. The organizational plan has been developed while undertaking detailed considerations of the company and modern management strategies.
References
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