1. Briefly explain how planning and monitoring helps organisations, managers and individual job-holders to achieve results and the types of plans that managers need to understand.
2. Describe how operational plans fit into the wider activities of the organisation.
3. What distinguishes a good plan from a poor plan? Why do plans sometimes fail? What actions can you take to safeguard the success of your plans?
4. You are to design a Strategic (Business) Plan using one of the following templates: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=36137703 and show proof that you have undertaken relevant research of information including, formulated strategic objectives and strategies needed for the future and detail each strategy with an assigned priority, timeframe, responsible parties and measurable performance indicators and milestones. (This can be of a business that you are currently working with or a ‘made-up' one...) You should include no less than 5 goals for this company.
5. Explain how you, as Manager/Owner of this business would promote this Strategic Plan to your staff.
• Give descriptions of the types of meetings and what would be said to the staff in the meeting.
• Give descriptions of the types of feed-back that you would expect from staff and your responses.
• What are the specific roles of people in relation to the strategy
6. Discuss how cooperative ventures might be useful within some strategic plans and what due diligence might be necessary to ensure cooperative ventures have a chance to succeed.
7. Assume 12 months after you wrote and implemented your strategic plan, the economy had taken a nose dive and/or your product/service has been made obsolete by a technological innovation by your competitor. What refinements can be made to your plan for your organisation to survive?
8. 18 months after you wrote and implemented your original strategic plan you find you are still surviving but you have downsized dramatically.
How effective is your original plan and your refinements?
What methods would you use to improve the original strategic planning process you used back in question 5?