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Action Plan
Goal:________________________________________________________________
Activities
Responsibility
Primary Others
Obstacles/Comments
Start Date
Finish Date
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Tips for online and large in-person classes:
Online classes: Students may not wish to publicly share a goal that they are working on (and if
required to do so may share a superficial or less meaningful goal). It is recommended that the
above activity is modified for online classes by focusing on Restating Poor Goals to SMART
Goals as a private online discussion or individual assignment. Allow ample time for feedback
and use this as a primer for the more involved, individual SMART goal exercise above.
ONLINE
CLASS
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GROUP EXERCISE #3: WRITING SMART GOALS
Objectives
● To provide students with an understanding of goal setting.
● To develop SMART goals through group work.
Introduction
Anyone can define goals. But, the five characteristics of a good goal are represented by the
acronym SMART.2 SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and
target dates. See the table below for guidelines on writing SMART goals.
Specific
Goals should be stated in specific rather than vague terms. The goal,
“As many planes as possible should arrive on time,” is too general. The
goal that “Ninety percent of all planes should arrive within 15 minutes
of the scheduled arrival time,” is specific.
Measurable
Whenever possible, goals should be measurable, or quantifiable (as in
“90 percent of planes should arrive within 15 minutes . . .”). That is,
there should be some way to measure the degree to which a goal has
been reached.
Of course, some goals—such as those concerned with improving
quality—are not precisely quantifiable. In that case, something on the
order of “Improve the quality of customer relations by instituting 10
follow-up telephone calls every week” will do. You can certainly
quantify how many follow-up phone calls were made.
Attainable
Goals should be challenging, of course, but above all, they should be
realistic and attainable. It may be best to set goals that are quite
ambitious so as to challenge people to meet high standards. Always,
however, the goals should be achievable within the scope of the time,
equipment, and financial support available. If too easy (as in “half the
flights should arrive on time”), goals won’t impel people to make much
effort. If impossible (“all flights must arrive on time, regardless of
weather”), employees won’t even bother trying; or they will try and
continually fail, which will end up hurting morale; or they will cheat.
(An example of cheating was the unrealistic goal of cutting wait times
for appointments by more than half at Veterans Affairs hospitals, as
revealed in 2014 scandals in which VA administrators were found to
have falsified figures.)
Results Oriented
Only a few goals should be chosen—say, five for any work unit. And
they should be results-oriented—they should support the organization’s
vision. In writing out the goals, start with the word “to” and follow it
with action-oriented verbs—“complete,” “acquire,” “increase” (“to
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 5 Planning: The Foundation of Successful Management
decrease by 10 percent the time to get passengers settled in their seats
before departure”). Some verbs should not be used in your goal
statement because they imply activities—the tactics used to accomplish
goals (such as having baggage handlers waiting). For example, you
should not use “to develop,” “to conduct,” “to implement.”
Target Dates
Goals should specify the target dates or deadline dates when they are to
be attained. For example, it’s unrealistic to expect an airline to improve
its on-time arrivals by 10 percent overnight. However, you could set a
target date—3 to 6 months away, say—by which this goal is to be
achieved. That allows enough time for lower-level managers and
employees to revamp their systems and work habits, and it gives them a
clear time frame in which they know what they are expected to do.
Instructions
1. First, students should review the following categories.
● Career
● Education/personal development
● Family
2. Students should pick three of these seven categories and write a personal SMART goal
relevant to each category.
4. Each student should share their first goal with the group. Others in the group then provide
feedback on whether it is a SMART goal, or provide feedback to make it a SMART goal.
6. Students then revise their goals based on feedback.
Questions for Discussion
1. Did you find this exercise easy, moderate, or hard? Why?
2. Why is it hard to write SMART goals?
2 Based on R. Kreitner and A. Kinicki, Organizational Behavior 6e, (New York: McGraw-Hill,
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Tips for online and large in-person classes:
Online classes: Depending on the size of your online class, you could facilitate the above activity
as an online group exercise using a Wiki or online discussion board, or pair students up and
assign the above steps as a homework assignment (have them use video calling technology, or at
Return
ONLINE
CLASS
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 5 Planning: The Foundation of Successful Management
CAREER CORNER GROUP EXERCISES
CAREER CORNER GROUP EXERCISE 1: BUILDING THE COMPETENCY OF UNDERSTANDING THE
BUSINESS
Learning Objective
• To enhance students’ career readiness competency of understanding the business.
Introduction
The overall purpose of this exercise is to give students an opportunity to sharpen a career
readiness competency needed for effective planning: understanding the business. This is
Instructions
1. Lecture on the importance of career readiness (see Figure 5.6) and the competency of
understanding the business.
2. Tell students that the career readiness competency of understanding the business is
essential for effective planning. Executives can’t effectively plan if they don’t understand
CAREER
READINESS
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3. Break the class into groups of 5 or 6 people. Ask each group to select a targeted
4. Groups use the internet to locate the company’s home page. Once there, have them search
for information regarding two of the organization’s top stakeholders. This information is
used to brainstorm potential “wins” for these stakeholders. The following PowerPoint
slide can be shown to help students organize their analysis:
You might offer these examples to help students get started. Consider the example of
using Volkswagen as the target company. Two key stakeholders are drivers and
5. After 10 minutes, each group is to quickly present on its chosen stakeholders (should take
around 10 minutes for all the groups to present). The class should provide feedback if
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 5 Planning: The Foundation of Successful Management
Tips for online classes:
ONLINE
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CAREER CORNER GROUP EXERCISE 2: BUILDING THE COMPETENCY OF POSITIVE APPROACH
Learning Objectives
• To enhance students’ career readiness competency of having a positive approach at work.
• To strengthen students’ ability to accept and act on feedback.
Introduction
The overall purpose of this exercise is to give students an opportunity to sharpen a career
readiness competency needed for effective planning: positive approach. Positive approach is
related to a student’s willingness to accept developmental feedback, to try and suggest new ideas,
and to maintain a positive attitude at work. In this activity students will identify a behavior that
they would like to improve, and then receive feedback from classmates. This process will be
repeated three times, providing students with a fair amount of feedback. The feedback will then
be used to develop an action plan aimed at improving the identified behavior.
Instructions
1. Ask students to review Chapter 1’s Table 1.2 in the textbook. It is important to ensure
that students understand the meaning of each competency.
2. Ask students to select one KSAO from the list in Table 1.2 that they would like to
develop.
4. Ask students to stand with their paper in hand. The feedback process entails a round robin
activity in which students form dyads and then ask a feedback partner for ideas or
feedback about how to develop the behavior in question. For example, if a student wants
to develop a proactive learning orientation via the behavior of increasing one’s
knowledge about soft skills, she might ask “how can I become more skilled at using soft
skills?” The requester takes notes, thanks his/her feedback partner, and then asks, “how
can I help you?” The other person in the dyad then asks this person for ideas or feedback
CAREER
READINESS
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Following is a worksheet that students can utilize for the activity:
5. This process is repeated three times. Students pair up with someone else during each
6. After the third round of feedback, students work individually and create an action plan
based on the feedback. The action plan represents the student’s tactics or activities for
7. You can conclude by asking one or two students to review their plan. It’s also valuable to
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Here is a slide that can be used to provide students with instructions:
Return
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UBER CONTINUING CASE
Chapter 5: Planning
This part of the Uber cumulative case focuses on Chapter 5 and covers principles related to
planning and goals. This cumulative case’s real-world application of management knowledge
and skills is designed to help students develop critical-thinking ability and realize the practical
power of sound managerial skills for solving problems in their job and career.
The case includes five multiple-choice questions and two essays-based questions. The essay
based questions can also be used in-class to spur discussion:
1. What are Uber’s long and short term goals, based on the case? Are these goals aligned?
Long-term goals are generally referred to as strategic goals. They tend to span 1 to 5
years and focus on achieving the strategies identified in a company’s strategic plan.
Short-term goals are sometimes referred to as tactical or operational goals, or just plain
goals. They generally span 12 months and are connected to strategic goals in a hierarchy
known as a means-end chain.
2. CEO Khosrowshahi is determined to dominate the industry by developing self-driving
cars. Draft a SMART goal that will represent his wishes and make sure to explain each
element of the goal.
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MANAGER’S HOT SEAT VIDEO
DON’T ROCK THE (ELECTRIC) BOAT
I. Introduction
Logan, the founder of an electric car company (Dunamis Motors) is a very ambitious, energetic
person who is passionate about his ideas. He has competitors in automobile business that are
expanding to motorcycles and self-driving car technology. However, Founder wants to gain a
competitive edge by manufacturing electric yachts. He is meeting with a strategic analyst and
creative director to pitch this idea, and they are quite unimpressed. Nevertheless, they cannot show
their concern and frustration since he is their boss. Instead, they try and talk the Founder out of his
idea by using planning and strategy principles.
II. Learning Objectives
1. Demonstrate how an organization can utilize the planning and strategic management
process to gain a competitive advantage in the market.
3. Evaluate organizational goals in order to confirm or create SMART goals.
III. Scenario Description:
Scene Set-up: Logan, Nela and Ian are meeting in Logan’s office to discuss a new plan he
has after coming back from a trip to Europe.
Scene Location: Logan’s office
Profile:
• Logan Sharer – Founder of Dunamis Motors
• Nela Moributo – Sr. Strategic Analyst
• Ian James – New Product Manager
Summary: In the first scene, Logan meets with Nela and Ian to discuss a new idea he has
for electric yachts. Nela and Ian are puzzled by the idea and are concerned when they learn
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Logan continues his discussion with Nela and Ian, who are still trying to utilize planning
principles to gauge the viability of Logan’s plan. The scene ends with Logan providing an
ultimatum about where the company needs to go from here.
IV. Discussion of Theory
Planning and strategic management process
• Logan is jumping to the implementation of a strategy that has not developed from the
earlier steps in the planning process, such as assessing the current reality and formulating
a grand strategy and long- and short-term plans.
SMART goals/SWOT analysis
• Logan did not want to draft any smart goals, though Ian wanted to. Logan wanted to just
go with it….
Ethical Decision Making
• Logan has a duty to shareholders and decisions have to be made in accordance with that.
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APPLICATION-BASED ACTIVITY
There are no Application-Based Activities for this chapter.