Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
CHAPTER 5
Plans and Planning Techniques
Get There Faster with Objectives
Chapter 5 Overview
Each Chapter contains several inset features designed to assist the student reader in applying
the concepts to relevant examples. Management Live illustrates how students may pick a
major based upon career opportunities. Choices gives an overview of “feel–good” evaluations
and what really works in the fight against poverty. Hot Topic explores options related to
career planning and focus. Facts to Consider introduces research or trends that may be used
for class discussion in the classroom or online for distance learning. Insight profiles the
importance of time management. Quick Case presents a business related scenario (paternity
leave) for class analysis and discussion.
Chapter five provides a review of the guidelines and importance of planning, types of plans,
and planning techniques and tools. Through planning, the focus of this chapter, managers can
make decisions that will facilitate goal accomplishment. Planning sets the stage for the
subsequent management functions of organizing, leading, and controlling. The Chapter
begins with a definition of planning and a review of its benefits and the various types of plans
used by most organizations. The distinction between policies and procedures is explained. A
Chapter 5 Takeaway Questions:
Takeaway 5.1 How and Why do Managers Use the Planning Process?
Takeaway 5.2 What Types of Plans do Managers Use?
Takeaway 5.3 What are some Useful Planning Tools and Techniques?
Chapter 5 Lecture Outline:
• Takeaway 5.1 How and Why do Managers Use the Planning Process?
o Planning is one of the four functions of management
o Planning is the process of setting objectives and identifying how to achieve
them
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
• Takeaway 5.2 What Types of Plans do Managers Use?
o Managers use short-range and long-range plans
• Takeaway 5.3 What are Some Useful Planning Tools and Techniques?
o Forecasting tries to predict the future
Chapter 5 Supporting Materials:
Figures
• Figure 5.1: Why Does Planning Play a Central Role in the Management Process?
• Figure 5.2: How Might a Hierarchy of Objectives Guide a Quality Management
Program in a Manufacturing Firm?
• Figure 5.3: How do Participation and Involvement Help Build Commitment to Plans?
What’s Inside
• Management Live: Picking a Major Based on Projected Future Salaries
• Choices: What Really Works in the Fight Against Poverty?
• Ethics Check: E-Waste Graveyards Offer Easy Way Out
• Hot Topic: Keep Your Career Plan Light and Focused, Or Loosen Up?
• Insight: Time Management Unlocks Performance Potential
• Facts to Consider: Policies on Office Romances Vary Widely
• Quick Case: New Dads Say It’s Time for Paternity Leave
Applications
• TestPrep 5 Multiple-Choice Questions
• Skill Building Portfolio
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
Chapter Outline
Takeaway 5.1 How and Why Do Managers Use the Planning Process?
• Planning is one of the four functions of management
✓ Planning – is a process of setting goals and objectives, and determining how to
best accomplish them
✓ Planning comes first among the four functions; it sets the stage for every other
function (Figure 5.1 illustrates the four functions).
• Planning is the process of setting objectives and identifying how to achieve them
✓ See Table 5.1 which explains the 5 steps in the planning process
✓ Step 1 – Define objectives – the specific results or desired goals one hopes to
achieve
✓ Step 2 – Determine where you stand vis-à-vis objectives – where are you now,
• Good Planning Makes Us….
➢ Action oriented
• Planning improves focus and action orientation
✓ See the inset graphic for the benefits of good planning
• Action oriented
• Planning improves coordination and control
✓ Planning provides a link with control, setting a goal with which to measure
success.
✓ Hierarchy of objectives – lower level objectives help to accomplish higher ones
✓ Figure 5.2 illustrates the hierarchy with an example of a quality management
program in a manufacturing firm.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
• Planning improves time management
✓ Helps make choices that allocate time among competing demands
✓ See Tips to Remember – Do’s and Don’ts for Managing Your Time
DISCUSSION TOPIC
Many students often juggle classes, study time, part-time work, and extracurricular activities,
along with other commitments. Doing this requires the use of time management skills. To
generate discussion, ask students how they manage their time so as to deal with their various
commitments.
DISCUSSION TOPIC
Challenge students to describe the planning steps as they would follow them to achieve a
personal goal such as earning an “A” on the next management exam, graduating on time or
getting a job.
5.1 Questions for discussion suggested answers
1) Should all employees plan, or just managers?
2) Which step in the planning process do you think is the hardest to accomplish?
3) How could better planning help in your personal career development?
Individuals should prepare a strategic plan for themselves and their career. What
5.1 Career Situation: What Would You Do?
Someone you really care about wants you to take a step forward in time management. She
asks you to make a list of all the things you plan to do tomorrow and identify which ones are
(A) most important—top priority, (B) important—not top priority, and (C) least important—
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
low priority. Next, she says to double-check your Bs — asking if any really should be As or
Cs and your As – to see if any should be Bs or Cs? So do it, and see how things turn out. Can
an exercise like this help you take charge of your time and get the really important things
done first?
Takeaway 5.2 What types of plans do managers use?
• Managers use short-range and long-range plans
✓ Short-range plans – usually cover a year or less
✓ Long-range plans – look ahead three or more years into the future
✓ Elliot Jacques, researcher, found that very few people have the capacity to think
long-term; most of us work comfortably with only three month time spans
DISCUSSION TOPIC
To generate discussion, ask students to identify their short-, intermediate-, and long-range
career plans. Many students will be able to quickly identify and distinguish between these
• Managers use strategic and operational plans
✓ Strategic plans – set broad, comprehensive, and longer-term action directions
✓ Vision – organization’s purpose and hopes for the future
• Organizational policies and procedures are plans
• Budgets are plans that commit resources to activities
✓ A budget is a plan that commits resources to activities, programs, or projects
➢ A fixed budget allocates a set amount of resources for a specific purpose
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
5.2 Questions for Discussion Suggested Answers
1) Is there any need for long-range plans in today’s fast-moving environment?
2) What types of policies do you believe are essential for any organization?
3) Are there any possible disadvantages to zero-based budgeting?
5.2 Career Situation: What Would You Do?
One of the persons under your supervision has contacted you about a “possible” sexual
harassment complaint against a co-worker. But, she says the organization’s procedures are
not clear. You decide they’re not clear and take the matter to your boss. He tells you to draft a
set of procedures that can be taken to top management for approval. What procedures will
you recommend so that future sexual harassment complaints can be dealt with in a fair
manner?
Takeaway 5.3 What are some useful planning tools and techniques?
• Forecasting tries to predict the future
✓ Forecasting is the process of predicting what will happen in the future
• Contingency planning creates back-up plans for when things go wrong
✓ Contingency planning identifies alternative courses of action to take when things
• Scenario planning crafts plans for alternative future conditions
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
✓ Scenario planning identifies alternative future scenarios and makes plans to deal
with each.
✓ Shell uses scenario planning to tackle such issues as climate change, sustainable
development, fossil-fuel alternatives, human rights, and biodiversity.
DISCUSSION TOPIC
To reinforce the ideas of contingency planning and scenario planning, ask the students to
• Benchmarking identifies best practices used by others
• Participatory planning improves implementation capacities
✓ Participatory planning includes the people whose ideas and inputs can benefit
the plans and whose support will be needed for implementation
✓ Figure 5.3 depicts how participation helps build commitment to plans
➢ Any plan needs the efforts and support of many people to make it work.
✓ Goal setting aligns plans and activities throughout an organization
✓ Stretch goals — performance targets that we have to work extra hard and really
stretch to reach
✓ Suggestions for creating “great goals” that result in successful plans are illustrated
➢ Specific
✓ Learning goals set targets to create the knowledge and skills required for
performance.
✓ Outcome goals set targets for actual performance results.
5.3 Questions for Discussion Suggested Answers
1) If forecasting is going to be imperfect, why bother with it?
2) Shouldn’t all planning provide for contingency plans?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
often do we draw conclusions that “plans are working” based on feel good evaluations or
anecdotal reports rather than on solid scientific evaluations? What are the consequences
when plans are implemented at great cost, but without systematic, defensible systems for
evaluation? Even if the objectives of a project are honorable, what ethical issues arise in
situations where it isn’t clear that the project is having the intended benefit?
Ethics Check: E-Waste Graveyards Offer Easy Way Out
Who doesn’t have an outdated piece of electronic equipment sitting around? This feature
explores the issue of responsibility for making sure harmful toxins don’t become part of our
environment due to improper disposal of e-waste. In addition to the You Decide discussion
questions in the feature, students may want to explore how your college disposes of e-waste
and evaluate the ethical considerations.
Facts to Consider: Policies on Office Romances Vary Widely
The Facts to Consider feature provides information on romance between co-workers as a
concern of business. Statistics on the types of policies that organizations have about office
romance are included. These questions may be used in class or online for discussion in
addition to the questions listed in the “What’s Your Take” section:
Do you know anyone who has been involved in an office relationship? What are your
thoughts? Is this an area that employers should be regulating, or should office romance be left
to the best judgments of those involved?
Additional Questions:
Hot Topic: Pro and Con Debate? Keep Your Career Plan Light and
Focused, Or Loosen Up?
This feature begs the question of whether too much (or too little) career planning is okay.
Two different executives give career advice. After students read each executive’s planning
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
Insight: Time Management Unlocks Performance Potential
When it comes to planning, one of the first things that often pops into mind is time. It is one
of our most precious resources, and time management is an essential career skill.
Some 77% of managers in one survey said that the digital age has increased the number of
decisions they have to make. Forty-three per-cent said there was less time available to make
these decisions. Who hasn’t complained or heard others complain, “There are just not enough
hours in the day to get everything done”?
Quick Case: New Dads Say It’s Time for Paternity Leave
This case asks students to act as the Human Resource Director for a medium-sized business
who has been asked by the CEO to draft a paternity leave policy. New dads would like
official time off but worry about negative consequences for their careers and job security. At
Skill Building Portfolio:
Terms to Define:
Benchmarking
Best practices
Budget
Complacency trap
Plan
Planning
Policy
Procedure
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
Test Prep 5 Multiple Choice Questions:
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Planning is best described as
the process of ______ and
_________.
(a) developing premises about the
2. The benefits of planning often
include __________.
(a) decide how to get where
you want to go
4. As a first step to help
implement her firm’s strategic plans,
the CEO of a business firm would
most likely want marketing,
manufacturing, and finance
executives to develop clear and
appropriate ________.
(d) project management
4. ______ planning identifies
alternative courses of action that can
be taken if problems occur with the
6. Having a clear sexual
harassment policy won’t help an
organization much unless it is
7. When a manager is asked to
justify a new budget proposal on the
(c) operational planning
(d) contingency planning
8. One of the expected benefits
of participatory planning is
__________.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach Exploring Management 6th Edition Instructor’s Manual
9. When managers use
benchmarking in the planning
process, they usually try to
_________.
(d) use expert staff planners to set
objectives
10. In a hierarchy of objectives,
plans at lower levels are supposed to
act as _________ for accomplishing
11. If a team leader wants to tap
the advantages of participatory
planning, what type of decision-
making method should he or she
use?
12. From a time management
perspective, which manager is likely
to be in best control of his or her
time? One who ________.
(a) tries to never say “no” to
requests from others
(b) works on the most important
things first
(c) immediately responds to instant
messages
13. A marketing plan in a
business firm would most likely deal
with ________.
(a) production methods and
technologies
14. The best goals or objectives
for planning purposes would have
which of the following
characteristics?
(a) Easy enough so that no one fails
14. The planning process isn’t
complete until ________.
(a) future conditions have been
identified
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Short-Response Questions
16. List the five steps in the planning process, and give examples of each.
The five steps in the formal planning process are (1) define your objectives, (2) determine
17. How does planning facilitate controlling?
18. What is the difference between contingency planning and scenario planning?
it.
19. Why is participation good for the planning process?
Participation is good for the planning process, in part because it brings to the process a
Integration and Application Question
20. My friends Curt and Rich own a local bookstore. They are very interested in
making plans for improving the store and better dealing with competition from the other
bookstores that serve college students in our town. I once heard Curt saying to Rich:
“We should be benchmarking what some of the successful coffee shops, restaurants, and
novelty stores are doing.” Rich replied: “I don’t see why; we should only be interested in
bookstores. Why don’t we study the local competition and even look at what the best
bookstores are doing in the big cities?”
Questions: Who is right, Curt or Rich? If you were hired as a planning consultant to
them, what would you suggest as the best way to utilize benchmarking as a planning
technique to improve their bookstore? And, how would you use the planning process to
help Curt and Rich come to a point of agreement on the best way forward for their
bookstore?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Benchmarking is the use of external standards to help evaluate one’s own situation and
develop ideas and directions for improvement. Curt and Rich are both right to a certain
Self-Assessment 5: Time Management Profile
Instructions
Indicate Y (yes) or N (no) for each item. Be frank; let your responses describe an accurate
picture of how you tend to respond to these kinds of situations.
2. I do the most important things during that part of the day when I know I perform best.
4. Even though meetings without a clear and useful purpose upset me, I put up with them.
6. I don’t worry much if I don’t accomplish at least one significant task each day.
8. My workspace is neat and organized.
10. I schedule my time completely from start to finish every workday.
12. I “block” a certain amount of time each day or week to be dedicated to high-priority
activities.
Scoring
Count the number of “Y” responses to items 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 12. [Enter that score here _____].
Count the number of “N” responses to items 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11. [Enter that score here _____].
Add the two scores together.
Interpretation
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
The higher the total score, the closer your behavior matches recommended time management
guidelines. Reread those items where your response did not match the desired one. Why don’t
Instructor’s Note
Consider using this assessment in conjunction with Exercise 9⎯Beating the Time Wasters.
They both deal with time management skills and complement one another. If you decide to use
Class Exercise 5: The Future Workplace
Instructions
Form groups as assigned by the instructor. Brainstorm to develop a master list of the major
characteristics you expect to find in the workplace in the year 2020. Use this list as background
for completing the following tasks:
1. Write a one-paragraph description of what the typical “Workplace 2020” manager’s workday
will be like.
3. Summarize in list form what you consider to be the major planning implications of your
4. Choose a spokesperson to share your results with the class as a whole and explain their
implications for the class members.
Instructor’s Note
This exercise can be extremely useful for stimulating students to seriously consider what their
future jobs and workplaces may be like. While student “pictures” can and should vary depending
upon their perspectives and their expectations for the future, their “pictures” of the manager may
reflect some of the following desirable characteristics of the 21st-century manager:
1. Global strategist ⎯ understands interconnections among nations, cultures, and
economies; plans and acts with due consideration of them.
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Team Project 5: Personal Career Planning
Instructions
1. Complete the following activities and bring the results to class. Your work should be in a
written form suitable for grading.
Activity 1: Strengths and Weaknesses Inventory Different occupations require special
talents, abilities, and skills. Each of us, you included, has a repertoire of existing strengths
2. In class, form into groups as assigned by the instructor. Share your career-planning analysis
with the group and listen to those of others. Participate in a discussion that examines any
common patterns and major differences among group members. Take advantage of any
opportunities to gather feedback and advice from others. Have one group member be
prepared to summarize the group discussion for the class as a whole.
Instructions
Form into groups as assigned by the instructor. Share your career planning analysis with the
group; listen to those of others. Participate in a discussion that examines any common patterns
and major differences among group members. Take advantage of any opportunities to gather
feedback and advice from others. Have one group member prepared to summarize the group
discussion for the class as a whole. Await further class discussion led by the instructor.
Instructor’s Note
This exercise can be done with a minimum of at-home preparation time and in a normal class
period. It forces students to be somewhat precise in looking five years ahead into their futures,
and trying to anticipate not only their preferred work positions but also their strengths and
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
help students explore some of the differences between their viewpoints, opinions and aspirations
and those of their colleagues.
Most students find career planning activities to be valuable and interesting. For most of
them (even part-time MBAs), this will be the first real attempt to set a specific career objective
Practice Critical Thinking: Uber – part of the Gig Economy
The case for this chapter is Uber, part of the gig economy which has revolutionized how people
consumer products and services. Companies such as Airbnb, for example, provide an online
marketplace that connects would-be renters with people seeking accommodations and eliminates
the “middleman” in 192 countries worldwide. Companies following a “gig” approach are grow–
ing in number and popularity, with more appearing every day. The list is huge and includes—just
to name a few—Lyft , which connects drivers with passengers; Turo, which connects rental cars
with customers in need of a car; and Open Airplane, RVshare, Sailo, Boatbound, Parking Panda,
Closet Collective, and Grubhub. We are seeing a revolution in the way the “market” functions . .
. or are we?
Case discussion questions and suggested answers:
1. DISCUSSION Although many argue that the gig economy has opened up opportunities for
individuals to be self-employed in ways that complement their lifestyle, the investments that gig giant
Uber is making suggest a different kind of future for the Uber successful taxi substitute. What do think
Uber has in mind?
2. DISCUSSION What are some of the potential applications for fleets of self-driving vehicles? What
role might this kind of infrastructure play in towns and cities in the future? How might Uber leverage
these kinds of assets to generate a profit? Do you see a way for Uber to be successful while still
employing human drivers? How?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
3. PROBLEM SOLVING You’ve been hired on by Uber as the Chief Financial Officer and
asked to address the issue of huge quarterly losses, despite massive sales revenues. The Uber
fleet is not likely to be “self–driving” for at least another 5 years, and it isn’t clear whether the
current model will be sustainable until then, particularly given increasing competitive pressures
to raise drivers’ rates from companies such as Lyft. What steps could you take to address these
competing pressures—market pressures to raise rates and the need to generate profits?
4. FURTHER RESEARCH Look into some of the more well-known gig companies currently
making headlines in the financial press. Are any of these companies generating a profit? What
factors are at work here? How have these profitable companies organized to become profitable?
Are any of these companies moving toward models that remove the “human factor”—that
mechanize in the way that it looks like Uber could be seeking to mechanize? How are the
financial values of some of these gig companies being determined? In light of the huge losses
experienced by some gig economies, what factors are likely playing a role in these financial
evaluations? Are people speculating on an unknown future?
Well known gig companies making headlines:
Uber, Lyft, Turo, OpenAirplane, Postmates, TaskRabbit, Dolly, HelloTech, OneFineStay,
SpareHire, Etsy.
Are they generating a profit? Some are, many are not.
How are these companies organized to become more profitable?
Schermerhorn & Bachrach: Exploring Management, 6th edition Instructor’s Manual
Are these companies moving toward models that remove the human factor?
How are the financial values of these gig companies determined?
In light of the huge losses experienced by some gig economies, what factors are likely playing a
role in these financial evaluations? Are people speculating on an unknown future?
Suggested Team Exercise for Chapter 5
Assign teams to develop a strategic plan and an operational plan for a residential interior painting
service that they are planning to launch in the local market, or an improved food service for your