• Home
• Module overview
• 1. Introduction to planning
  • 1.1 Types of plans
    • 1.1.1 Some definitions
    • 1.1.2 Domains of planning
    • 1.1.3 Users and levels of planning
  • 1.2 Completing a planning cycle
    • 1.2.1 A planning process
    • 1.2.2 Tactical and operational planning
    • 1.2.3 A participative planning process
    • 1.2.4 When to complete business planning
  • 1.3 Implementing an operational plan
    • 1.3.1 Define the plan's purpose
    • 1.3.2 Setting the planning period and scope
    • 1.3.3 Why plans fail - The strategic level
    • 1.3.4 Why plans fail - The operational or project level
  • 1.4 SMART goals
    • 1.4.1 S.M.A.R.T. Goal statements
  • 1.5 Contingency plans
    • 1.5.1 Why contingency plan?
    • 1.5.2 Contingency plans and risk
    • 1.5.3 Contingency planning actions

• 2. Plan and manage resources

  • 2.1 Plan and manage human resources
    • 2.1.1 Recruitment
    • 2.1.2 Selection
    • 2.1.3 Induction
  • 2.2 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
  • 2.3 Purchasing resources
    • 2.3.1 Tangible and intangible assets
    • 2.3.2 Acquisition costs
    • 2.3.3 Depreciation costs
    • 2.3.4 Planning resource acquisition and utilisation
    • 2.3.5 Estimating resource needs
  • 2.4 Manage Capacity
    • 2.4.1. Planning capacity
    • 2.4.2. Measuring capacity
    • 2.4.3. Matching operations plans with capacity
    • 2.4.4. Capacity analysis and economies of scale
    • 2.4.5. Capacity and performance effectiveness
    • 2.4.6. Determinants of capacity
  • 2.5 Aggregate and Master Planning
    • 2.5.1 Master Schedule
    • 2.5.2 Operational control and resource planning
    • 2.5.3 Demand and scheduling control

• 3. Risk Management

  • 3.1 Risk Management
    • 3.1.1 Potential benefits from an effective risk management
    • 3.1.2 Classifying risk
    • 3.1.3 Risk and ANZS4360:2004
    • 3.1.4 Risk analysis
  • 3.2 Estimate the risk attached to a corrective action
    • 3.2.1 Risk analysis categories
    • 3.2.2 Prioritising risks

• 4. Planning projects

  • 4.1 Planning the project
    • 4.1.1 Setting the project plan
    • 4.1.2 Setting achievable outcomes
  • 4.2 Controlling Projects
    • 4.2.1 Personnel resources
    • 4.2.2 Managing project costs
    • 4.2.3 Value of managing project costs
    • 4.2.4 Estimates
    • 4.2.5 Cost Coding
    • 4.2.6 The time factor
  • 4.3 Scheduling project tasks and activities
    • 4.3.1 Project timelines and deliverables
    • 4.3.2 Critical Path Analysis (CPA)
    • 4.3.3 PERT
    • 4.3.4 Seven steps to project scheduling
    • 4.3.5 Completing project schedule activities

• 5. Problem solving and decision making

  • 5.1 Problem solving
    • 5.1.1 The problem solving process
    • 5.1.2 Solutions search
    • 5.1.3 Removing root causes
    • 5.1.4 Solutions implementation through inclusive communication processes
  • 5.2 Decision making
    • 5.2.1 Decision making model and leadership styles
  • 5.3 Decision making approaches
    • 5.3.1 The logical systems
    • 5.3.2 Contingency approach
    • 5.3.3 Quantitative - schematic and mathematical approaches
    • 5.3.4 Critical Path Analysis
    • 5.3.5 PERT
    • 5.3.6 Group quantitative approaches
    • 5.3.7 A qualitative approach
  • 5.4 Context and the influence on the decision processes
    • 5.4.1 Factors in decision making
    • 5.4.2 Rational decision making
    • 5.4.3 Creative decision making
  • 5.5 Scenarios for team decision making and problem solving
    • Problem scenario number 1 - Lost in the bush
    • Problem scenario number 2 - Toothpaste blues
    • Analysis of personal behaviour in groups

1.3.4 Why plans fail - The operational or project level

Lack of executive sponsorship

Often operational plans, especially associated with large projects or transformation processes, tend to be both complex and cut across multiple jurisdictions and areas. Without executive support the ability to coordinate activity and attune the divergent needs to agreed purposes is near impossible.

Poorly defined resource specifications

It is not uncommon for organisation to commence implementing a system or process before the nature of the need or the problem has been fully understood. In such cases the solutions is either:

• Implemented to meet the wrong needs;
• Is delivered but cannot integrate with the prevailing or future systems or workforce competencies;
• Accentuates problems with capacity, rather than solving them;
• Does not delivery anyone's needs;
• Is continually redesigned, rescheduled and subject of budget overspend; or
• Simply passes into obscurity with the budget allocated for its introduction

Lack of stakeholder consultation

The users and the customers of either the system or the users are not involved early enough (or at all) in the design of the solution. Pressure on the planning team to 'deliver a result' may have caused the project to be fast tracked to the early attainment of a design specification. Alternatively, some teams or line business units feel other departments deliberately fail to consult during formation of their operational plans in an effort to control certain resources or projects. As such operational areas often become 'competitive' with each other during planning processes. Unfortunately, if key stakeholders are not involved prior to implementation there tends to be some common problems:

• Expectations are not clear;
• Stakeholders resist the change process;
• Staff identify problems at a point - usually during implementation - where resources are deficient or overlapping;
• The plans are designed without an understanding of undeliverables;
• Staff have a plan with objectives that do not fit the prevailing culture and work practices; and
• Suspicion reigns and dominate staff thinking, over and above any of the stated benefits.

Uncooperative design partners

When consultants or partners working on the plan fail to deliver on time and in full, the project itself and even the organisation can suffer.

Related to this problem is the tendency of some organisation, especially smaller operations, to use one external consultants for all work. This may occur because they have a successful relationship with the developer or vendor. However, problems often occur when this company attempts to develop solutions in areas outside their expertise or technical capacity (Dorsey, 2001:5).

Timeliness

Some projects can fail due to misrepresentation or poor quality vendor relationships. However, just as many fail due to the failure to deliver to agreed milestones. In some cases the loss of goodwill in the organisation can damage the project. However, in the extreme projects not delivered on time can slide to a point whereby a competitor (to the organisation or the technology provider) leapfrogs the solution and the current project fails to deliver a competitive solution.

Many businesses and some sectors of economic activity face such a high the rate of technology change and convergence that they outsource specific projects or operational capabilities to organisations specifically designed and resourced to keep technology and systems current.

Previous Page - Next Page