Exploring The Planning Process In Organizations: Ferguson Plarre Essay.

The planning process adopted by managers in organizations

1. Explain the planning process adopted by managers in organizations.

2. Provide a brief summary of Ferguson Plarre’s organizational history.

3. Describe Ferguson Plarre’s approach to goal setting.

4.How does Ferguson Plarre track progress toward goal achievement?

1. The planning process includes the setting of goals and the commitment that is required to develop these goals. To achieve these goals an action plan is required by the organizations that will help them in proceeding towards the goals in a systematic manner. These action plans need to be tracked so that the progress can be measured, which will help in calculating the time that will be required to achieve these goals. The plan needs to be flexible in nature so that if any contingency arises, it can be able to work on that and then again proceed towards its goal (Armstrong and Taylor 2014).

The first step in the planning process is the setting of goals, which will help the organization to have an aim that it will want to achieve in the market. The goals have to be specific so that it will provide the organization a target, which it will aim to achieve and maintaining its standards at the same time. for example, Tesco has SMART objectives and goals and is specific in nature. The first objective of Tesco is ‘no deforestation’, which means that the trees that will be cut down by the company will be replaced by them. The goal of the company is measurable as they can keep a track of the number of trees they have cut down and replaced it with new saplings. The goal of the company is also specific as it has set a target that the they will stop deforestation by 2020, which helps them in achieving the goals (Kerzner 2013).

The next step is the commitment that is shown towards achieving the goals. The goals of the company should motivate the employees to work in a smarter way in the organization. The goals of the company need to be set after being discussed with the employees so that it can be achievable. It should be realistic in nature and the senior management of the company needs to be committed so that they can inspect that it can be achieved by the employees. This will encourage the employees to be committed towards the organization and help them in achieving its target. Tesco is committed towards its policy of zero deforestation, which in turn has motivated the employees to serve in the organization in a better way. Since, the company hires people from the local community, it allows the employees to gain trust in the company by doing these activities for the community. This helps in attracting customers too for the company (Davenport 2013).

Ferguson Plarre’s organizational history

The third step in the planning process includes the development of action plans that are effective in nature. The action plan helps an organization by listing the steps and the resources that will be required by the employees to help the company achieve its goal. Tesco has developed its action plan in such a way that they have managed to regain their competitive factor in the market. The main themes of the company were that they wanted their customers to experience shopping in an easier and better way. The company kept the products that were required daily by the customers, which made its availability in the store very frequent. This helped the company to maintain their loyal customers. The third strategy that was adopted by the company is that the prices of the products will be low, which cannot be matched by their competitors (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). The business model that is followed by the company mainly revolves around three pillars that are the customers, products and the channels. The company keeps its customers at the core of the business model and listens to the queries that are raised by the customers. This helps the company in delivering the products at the best price possible along with the best service. The products of the company is thoroughly looked after the product team who keeps a track of the products that are being available in the stores after discussing it with the potential customers. This allows the company to keep the most needed products in the store so that the customers can get what they are looking for. The company has a wide network of channels that allow them to purchase the products from small and big shops and through the online business. The company tries to improve its channels by making it more convenient and efficient for the customers (Harper 2015).

The fourth step includes the tracking of the progress with respect to the achievement of its goals. The methods of tracking the goals are divided in to proximal goals, which are short-term goals and distal goals, which includes the long-term goals that the company wants to achieve. The proximal goals help the company to achieve its distal goals in the long run. Progress can be tracked through another method as well that includes the feedback regarding the performance of the company and its employees. These feedbacks allow the managers to know their employees in a better way and their contribution towards achieving the target set by the company. Tesco maintains a good communication pattern that helps them in getting feedback from the customers and the employees. The main goal of the company is to provide values based on the services that it renders to the customers (Simons 2013).

Ferguson Plarre’s approach to goal setting

The fifth and final step is to maintain flexibility that will lead to achievement of the goals. Tesco has shifted to broad banding, which has helped them in increasing their flexibility to achieve their goals and objectives. The company has to use the resources that are available to them so that the strategies that they have formulated will help them in the future. This has helped them in opening of more stores and continue their operations overseas as well. The company has undertaken the total reward policy, which has helped them to maintain their employees by giving them rewards on a constant basis, which helped them achieve recognition (Harper 2015).

Planning in the organization will help in determining the objectives that has been set by the company. It will help in focusing the attention on the goals of the company for the employees. It helps in minimizing the risks of the firm. Proper planning will provide the firm an opportunity to stay away from any obstacle that it might get while trying to achieve its objectives. It helps in greater coordination amongst the employees as the employees under the proper guidance of the managers will strive to reach to the goal set by the firm. It helps in boosting up the morality of the employees as it creates discipline within the organization. Lastly, it encourages innovations to take place in the organization. The planning process provides various opportunities that helps in improving the performance of the employees (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).

There are however limitations to planning as well such as the rigidness of the planning procedure. It tends to make the working administration within the organization inflexible and the procedures and the policies have to be strictly followed under all circumstances. Planning may lead to over-ambitiousness of the policies that may not be achieved within the stipulated time. the planning process is time consuming in nature as it has to collect the information that needs to be analyzed before making further plans in the organization. There is a chance of probability in the planning process as it is based on the future forecasts of the company. It does not follow the real situation as the predictions are all made for the future. Planning process requires an investment of money, which may prove to be expensive for the company in the future (Simons 2013).

2. The Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse is a family owned business venture who are still in operation. The company has a long history, which can be traced back to the 1800s. the company was started by two families Fergusons and the Plarre families who are of European ethnicity and established their company in Australia a century ago. The company was established in 1901 in the Northern and the Western suburbs of the country in Melbourne and became household names in the locality at a faster rate. The company continued its trading business during the World Wars and even faced the harsh conditions of Great Depression but they managed to survive through these times. The company saw its fourth generation take over the business in 2012 and they managed the business through retail shops, franchising their bakery and the daily operations of the company. The company continues to deliver quality products through better service and continuous innovation techniques. The products include chicken, beef that is free from hormone injection and freshly made cream in their manufacturing unit. The company is recently run by Steve Plarre who relaunched the original store of the company (Ferguson Plarre 2013).

How Ferguson Plarre tracks progress toward goal achievement

3. The mission of the company is to provide the materials that are organic in nature so that their consumers do not face any health issues in the future.

The vision of the company is to upkeep the satisfaction level of the customers by providing them with the best quality products that is available in the market. they will not compromise on their product quality, which may lower their customer base.

The strategical plan of the company after the Plarre family bought the Fergusson family is to promote the brand throughout the country by establishing various franchisees. This will help the company as more number of customers will get a taste of the historical company in Australia. 

The company has built its brand on a fresh note that pertains to the history of the company. The company recently faced a few problems when they changed the senior managers but it was done in a positive manner. The company has a good network of communication pattern that has helped them set their goals as communication helped the company to interact with the customers in a proper manner. The major goal of the company is to have a turnover of $24 million AUD, which is more than the turnover from the previous year of $20 million AUD. The company plans to achieve this turnover by adding new stores and the growth of the existing stores needs to be increased by 10 percent.

The company has launched point of sales system, which will help them in keeping a track of the products that will be sold. Earlier it used to maintain a register, which caused problem in understanding the transactional values of the company (Ferguson Plarre 2012).

4. From the video, it can be understood that Ralph Plarre has introduced a system of graphical representation in the company. The particular products that achieve more sales in the market are marked with a green line and the products that do not do well in the market are marked with the red line. This helps the company to get a better hold of the products and the situation in the market. The strategy of the company is to review its goal every month, which will help them in maintaining a flexible strategy so that when they face any problem they can come up with a different solution. The production process of the company is also tracked so that the products that sell more in the market can be manufactured, which directly results in increasing the profits of the company (Ferguson Plarre 2012).

Reference List

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.

Davenport, T.H., 2013. Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Harvard Business Press.

Ferguson Plarre 2012, Interview with Steve Plarre, Part 3: Planning, Cengage Learning   Australia.

Ferguson Plarre 2013, Our History, viewed {Accessed on 23^rd May, 2017}, https://www.fergusonplarre.com.au/about/history/

Harper, C., 2015. Organizations: Structures, processes and outcomes. Routledge.

Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.

Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Loosemore, M., 2013. Innovation, strategy and risk in construction: turning serendipity into capability. Routledge.

McLean, T., 2014. Grow Your Factory, Grow Your Profits: Lean for Small and Medium-sized Manufacturing Enterprises. CRC Press.

Simons, R., 2013. Levers of control: How managers use innovative control systems to drive strategic renewal. Harvard Business Press.