CHAPTER 3: PLANNING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
QUESTIONS
l. PLANNING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES
1. Why is planning an important activity for engineer
managers?
Planning is an important activity for engineer managers
because this will serve as their guide towards their desired
results or the organization's goals or objectives. Planning also
minimizes mistakes and risks in decision-making. Planning sorts
activities according to priority and order, it involves forecasting
so any problems will be anticipated and a course of action is
already prepared. With planning , productivity is maximized
and resources are not wasted on projects with little chance of
success.
2. How may planning be defined? Explain and relate the
Intention of the author.
Planning is an activity that formulates course of action in
achieving a goal. In engineering management, plan means an
output of planning that provides a methodical way of achieving
the desired outcome or objective. Planning sorts activities
according to priority and order, it involves forecasting so any
problems will be anticipated and a course of action is already
prepared. Planning helps us manage the resources properly.
With planning , productivity is also maximized and resources
are not wasted on projects with little chance of success.
3. What planning activities are undertaken at various
management levels? Explain the processes.
Top Management lvl — strategic planning (process of
determining the major goals, the whole company is considered,
wherein the decision for long-range goals and the course of
action to achieve the organization’s goal) (CEO, President, VP,
General Manager, division heads)
Middle Management lvl — intermediate planning (process of
determining the contributions that subunits can make with
allocate resources) (marketing, production,financial,personnel
or department heads)
Lower Management lvl —operational planning (how specific
task can be accomplished on time)(unit managers, first line
supervisors)
4. What are the steps In the planning process. Explain these
steps briefly.
The planning process is consists of:
Setting organizational, divisional, or unit goals
-this is to provide a sense of direction to the firm,if everyone
in the firm is aware of the goals, there is a bigger chance
that everyone will contribute in achieving the goals.
Developing strategies or tactics to reach those goals
-Strategy is a course of action aimed at achieving the
organizational goals. (top management)
-Tactics are short term actions taken by management to
adjust to negative internal and external influences,
formulated to support the firm’s strategies. Decisions about
short-term goals are included in the tactical plan. (middle
and lower management)
Determining resources needed
- The quality and quantity must be correctly determined. To
avoid being wasteful.
Setting standards
- Standards are quantitative or qualitative device designed
to help monitor the performances of people, capital goods,
or processes.
5. What are the types of Plans? Explain how they may be
classified?
Plans are classified in terms of functional areas, time horizon,
and frequency of use.
Functional Area Plans- plans that are prepared according
to the needs of the different functional area.
Examples:
A. Marketing Plan- blueprint for implementing and
controlling an organization’s marketing strategies
B. Production Plan- states the quantity of output a company
must produce in broad terms and by product family.
C. Financial Plan- summarizes the current financial
situation ,and financial needs of the firm and recommends a
direction of financial activities
D. Human Resource Management Plan- indicates the human
resource needs of a company detailed in terms of quantity
and quality
Plans With Time Horizons
A. Short-range Plans- plans intended to cover a period less than
one year. First-line supervisors are mostly concerned with
these.
B. Long-range Plans- plans with time span of more than a year,
undertaken by the middle and top management
Plans According to Frequency of Use
A. Standing Plans- plans that are used again and again,
examples are Policies ( broad guidelines), Procedures (plans
that describe an exact series of actions), Rules (statements that
require or forbid a certain action)
B. Single-Use Plans- plans with unique and unlikely repeated
courses of actions, classified into Budget (expected
expenditure), Program, Projects (usually more limited in scope
than a program and sometimes prepared to support a program)
6. What Is a Production Plan? What are Its planning
components?
Production plan is a written document that states the quantity
of output a company must produce in broad terms and by
product family.
The production plan must contain:
A. The amount of capacity the company must have
B. How many employees are required
C. How much material must be purchased
7. How will you differentiate between "Standing Plans and
Single-Use Plans”?
Standing plan are plans that used again and again, and they
focus on managerial situations that are recur repeatedly
(policies, procedures and rules) while the single use plan are
developed to implement courses of action that are relatively
unique and are unlikely to be repeated. (budget, program,
projects)
8. What Is a budget? What type of plan Is this classified?
A budget is a projected expenditure for a certain activity and
explains where the required funds will come from. A budget is
an estimation of revenue and expenses over a specified future
period of time and is usually compiled and re-evaluated on a
periodic basis. It is classified as a Single-used plan.
9. What is meant by "company mission"?
A company mission refers the strategic statement that
identifies why an organization exists, it is the philosophy of
management and it's purpose as distinguished from others in
terms of products, services and markets. It's a summary of
what the company/ organization does for its clients,
employees, and owners. It explains how you do what you do.
And, it focuses on why your company does what it does.
10. What are the barriers to planning?
Barriers to planning are:
Manager’s inability to plan ( could be the lack of training,
experience)
Improper planning process (must follow the correct process
to avoid the failure of plan)
Lack of commitment to planning process (when the
manager is not committed , resulting plan may not be as
effective)
Improper information (having the right information is crucial
to planning because it could cause failure of plan )
Focusing on the present at the expense at the expense of
the future (forecasting is important in planning , this is to
anticipate any future problem and a course of action can be
prepared to solve the problem)
Too much reliance on the planning department
Concentrating only on the controllable variables
11. What are the three useful means to be considered as aid
In planning?
There are three aids of planning that may be used
-gather as much information (having more information means
more knowledge to be used in developing a more sophisticated
plan)
-develop multiple sources of information (having multiple
sources is important to have more verified and truthful
information to compare)
-involved others in planning process (more people involved,
means more brains for developing the plan, more people would
be involve and would be aware of the process and the plan
itself and so that they can contribute more in achieving the
desired result/goal)
12. How will you determine a certain plan is successful?
A plan is determined as successful if the organization’s goal was
achieved in an efficient and effective manner. Efficient and
effective in a way that the goal was achieved on time,
productivity is maximized, resources are managed well , and no
effort was wasted.
