PLANNING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES strategies for obtaining and using resources to achieve

those goals.
THE NATURE OF PLANNING
In strategic planning, the whole company is
There are many instances when the managers
considered, specifically its objectives and current
are overwhelmed by various activities which at times resources. The output of strategic planning is the
becloud his judgment. This must be expected since strategic plan which spells out “the decision about long
anybody who is confronted by several situations range goals and the course of action to achieve these
happening simultaneously will loose sight of the more goals.”
important concerns. To minimize mistakes in decision
making, planning is undertaken. INTERMEDIATE PLANNING

A plan which is the output of planning, -refers to the process of determining the
provides a methodical way of achieving desired contributions that subunits can make with allocated
results. In the implementation of activities, the plan resources.
serves as a useful guide. Without the plan some minor
tasks may be afforded major attention which may, later Under intermediate planning, the goals of a
on, hinder the accomplishment of activities. subunit are determined and a plan is prepared to
provide a guide to the realization of the goals. The
PLANNING DEFINED intermediate plan is designed to support the strategic
plan.
NICKELS AND OTHERS
OPERATIONAL PLANNING
• refers to the management function
that involves anticipating future trends and -refers to the process of determining how
determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve specific tasks can best be accomplished on time with
organizational activities. available resources. This type of planning is a
responsibility of lower management. It must be
ALDAG AND STEARNS
performed in support of the strategic plan and
• “the selection and sequential intermediate plan.
ordering of tasks required to achieve an organizational
goal.”

COLE AND HAMILTON

• “deciding what will be done, who will

do it, where, when and how it will be done, and the
standards to which it will be done.”

PLANNING AT VARIOUS MANAGEMENT LEVELS

• Top management level – strategic planning

• Middle management level – intermediate planning

• Lower management level – operational planning

STRATEGIC PLANNING

-refers to the process of determining the major

goals of the organization and the policies and
THE PLANNING PROCESS resource requirements are currently available, they
must be specified.
The Planning Process
The quality and quantity of resources needed
The process of planning consists of various
must be correctly determined. Too much resources in
steps depending on the management level that terms of either quality and quantity will be wasteful.
performs the planning task. Generally, however, Too little will mean loss of opportunities for maximizing
planning involves the following: income.
1. setting organizational, divisional, or unit goals To satisfy strategic requirements, a general
2. developing strategies or tactics to reach those goals statement of needed resources will suffice. The specific
requirements will be determined by the different units
3. determining resource needed and of the company

4. setting standards. Setting Standards

Setting Organizational, Divisional, or Unit Goals The standards for measuring performance may
be set at the planning stage. When actual performance
• Goals may be defined as the precise
does not match with the planned performance,
statement of results sought, quantified in time and
corrections may be made or reinforcements for the
magnitude, where possible.
purpose.

A standard may be defined as “a quantitative

or qualitative measuring device designed to help
monitor the performance of people, capital goods, or
processes.

TYPES OF PLANS

Plans are of different types. They may be

classified in terms of functional areas, time horizon,
Developing Strategies or Tactics to Reach Goals
and frequency of use.
After determining the goals, the next task is to
Functional Area Plans
devise some means to realize them. The ways to realize
the goals are called strategies and these will be the 1. Marketing Plan – this is the written document or
concern of top management. The middle and lower blueprint for implementing and controlling an organization’s
management will adapt their own tactics to implement marketing activities related to a particular marketing
their plans. strategy.

A strategy may be defined as “a course of 2. Production Plan - this is the written document
that states the quantity of output a company must produce
action aimed at ensuring that the organization will
in broad terms and by product family.
achieve its objectives”.
3. Financial Plan – it is a document that summarizes
Determining Resources Needed the current financial situation of the firm, analyzes financial
needs, and recommends a direction for financial activities.
When particular sets of strategies or tactics
have been devised, the engineer management will, 4. Human Resource Management Plan – it is a
then, determine the human and nonhuman resources document that indicates the human resource needs of a
required by such strategies and tactics. Even if the company detailed in terms of quantity and quality and based
on the requirements of the company’s strategic plan
PLANS WITH TIME HORIZON

Plans with time horizon consist of the following:

1. Short Range Plans – these are plans intended to

cover a period of less than one year. First-line
supervisors are mostly concerned with these plans.

2. Long Range Plans – these are plans covering a time

span of more than one year. These are mostly
undertaken by middle and top management.

PLANS ACCORDING TO FREQUENCY OF USE

According to frequency of use, plans may be classified

as:

1. Standing plans – these are plans that are use again

and again, and they focus on managerial situations that
recur repeatedly.

2. Single-use plans – these plans are specifically

developed to implement courses of action that are
relatively unique and are unlikely to be repeated.

STANDING PLANS

Standing plans may be further classified as follows:

1. Policies – they are broad guidelines to aid managers at

every level in making decisions about recurring situation or
function.

2. Procedures – they are plans that describe the exact series

of action to be taken in a given situation.

3. Rules – they are statements that either require or forbid a

certain action.

SINGLE-USE PLANS

Single-use plans may be further classified as follows:

1. Budget – is a plan which sets forth the projected

expenditure for a certain activity and explains where the
required funds will come from.

2. Programs – is a single use of plan designated to

coordinate a large set of activities.

3. Project – is a single use plan that is usually more limited in

scope than a program and is sometimes prepared to support
a program.
ORGANIZING TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES • Delegation of authority – the process of
assigning various degrees of decision making authority
• The engineer manager needs to acquire to subordinates.
various skills in management, including those for
organizing technical activities. In this highly competitive • Departmentation – the grouping of related
environment, the unskilled manager will not be able to jobs, activities, or processes into major organizational
bring his unit, or his company, as the case may be, to subunits.
success.
• Span of control – the number of people who
• Even today, skills in organizing contribute report directly to a given manager.
largely to the accomplishment of the objectives of many
organization, whether they are private business or • Coordination – the linking of activities in the
otherwise. organization that serves to achieve a common goal or
objective.
REASONS FOR ORGANIZING
THE FORMAL ORGANIZATION
Organizing is undertaken to facilitate the
implementation of plans. In effective organizing, steps After a plan is adapted, management will
are undertaken to breakdown the total job into more proceed to form an organization to carry out the
manageable man-size jobs. activities indicated in the plan. The formal organization
is “the structure that details lines of responsibilities,
STRUCTURES authority, and position.”

-The arrangement or relationship of positions THE FORMAL STRUCTURE IS DESCRIBED BY MANAGEMENT

within an organization. THROUGH:

PURPOSE OF THE STRUCTURES • Organization chart – diagram of the organization’s

official positions and formal lines of authority.
• It defines the relationships between tasks
• Organizational manual – provides written
and authority for individuals and departments.
descriptions of authority relationships, details the functions
• It defines formal reporting relationships, the of major organizational units, and describes job procedures.
number of levels in the hierarchy of the organization, • Policy Manual - describes personnel activities and
and the span of control. company INFORMAL GROUPS

• It defines the groupings of individuals into • Formal Organizations require the formation of
departments and departments into organization. formal groups which will be assigned to perform specific
tasks aimed at achieving organizational objectives. The
• It defines the system to effect coordination formal group is a part of the organization structure.
of effort in both vertical (authority) and horizontal
(task) directions. • There are instances when members of an
organization spontaneously form a group with friendship as
WHEN STRUCTURING AN ORGANIZATION, THE a principal reason for belonging. This group is called an
ENGINEER MANAGER MUST BE CONCERNED WITH THE informal group. It is not part of the formal organization and it
FOLLOWING: does not have a formal performance purpose.

• Informal groups are oftentimes very useful in the

• Division of Labor – determining the scope of
accomplishments of major tasks, especially if these tasks
work and how it is combined in a job.
conform with the expectations of the members of the
informal groups.
TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES

1. FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION – Function 3. MATRIX ORGANIZATION - According to Thompson

organization structures are very effective in smaller Strickland, “is a structure with two (or more) channels
firms, especially “single- business firms where key of command, two lines of budget authority, and two
activities revolve around well- defined skills and areas sources of performances and reward” Higgins declared
of specialization” that the “the matrix structure was designed to keep
employees in a certain pool and to allocate them to
various projects in the firm according to the length of
time they were needed.”

2. PRODUCT or MARKET ORGANIZATION – With its

feature of operating by divisions, is “appropriate for a TYPES OF AUTHORITY
large corporation with many product lines in several
• LINE AUTHORITY – a manager’s right to tell
related industries”
subordinates what to do and then see that they do it.
Advantages:
• STAFF AUTHORITY – a staff specialist’s right to
• The organization is flexible and responsive to change. give advice to a superior.

• The organization provides a high concern for customer’s • FUNCTIONAL AUTHORITY – a specialist’s right to
needs. oversee lower level personnel involved in that specialty,
regardless of where the personnel are in the organization.
• The organization provides excellent coordination across
functional departments. • LINE DEPARTMENTS

• There is emphasis on overall product and division goals. -perform tasks that reflect the organization’s
primary goal and mission. In a construction firm, the
• The opportunity for the development of general department that negotiates and secures contracts for the
management skills is provided. firm is a line department. The construction division is also a
line function.
Disadvantages:
• STAFF DEPARTMENTS
• There is a high possibility of duplication of resources across
division. -include all those that provide specialized skills in
support of line departments. Examples of staff departments
• There is less technical depth and specialization in divisions.
include those which perform strategic planning, labor
relations, research, accounting, and personnel. Staff officers
• There is poor coordination across division.
may be classified into the following:
• There is less top management control.
• PERSONAL STAFF
• There is competition for corporate resources.
– those individuals assigned to a specific manager
to provide needed staff services.
• SPECIALIZED STAFF

– those individuals providing needed staff services

for the whole organization.

THE PURPOSE OF COMMITTEES

When certain formal groups are deemed

inappropriate to meet expectations, committees are
oftentimes harnessed to achieve organizational goals.
Many organizations, large or small, make use of
committee.

A committee, as described by Millevo, is “often

staffed by top executives from marketing, production,
research, engineering, and finance, who work part –
time to evaluate and approve product ideas.”

COMMITTEES MAY BE CLASSIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

• Ad hoc committee – one created for a short-term

purpose and have a limited life. An example is the
committee created to manage the anniversary
festivities of a certain firm.

• Standing committee – it is relatively permanent

committee that deals with issues on an ongoing basis.
An example is the grievance committee set up to handle
initially complaints from employees of the organization.