SLP Assignment Expectations
For this assignment write a 2 -3 page paper focusing on the Function of Planning of Best Buy and conduct either a SWOT or PEST analysis for this organization.
Please first make sure to read the Background Materials and apply them to your selected organization.
Brief Reminder
The planning stage sets the directions and selects means to meet them.
• Leadership develops the vision that generates goals and objectives.
• The company performs external and internal analysis in order to determine strengths and weaknesses, as well as opportunities and threats. Examples are SWOT (which we apply in the case) and PEST analysis.
SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.
PEST: Political, Economic, Social, Technological
• Strategies (such as business ones, functional ones (marketing, operations, human resources, etc), and corporate ones (restructuring, alliances, mergers, etc) are selected.
Helpful Hints
Please do your best to format your essay according to APA formatting requirements. Here is a good information source to help you with that: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Recommended Outline:
Introduction
• Main Body with Subsections
• Vision, Goals, Objectives
• Brief Analysis (if applicable)
• Selected Strategies
Conclusions
List of references
Make sure there is an Introduction (providing a roadmap to the paper), A Main Body with subsections (one subsection per strategy, Conclusions (summary) and a List of References.
Please use titles and headings per each section and subsection!
Background Information and Required Readings
PLANNING
Planning represents a very important function of management.
There are five main sections in this section:
I. General Definitions of Planning
II. A Lecture on the Strategic Management Process by Dr. Luca
III. A Section on Michael Porter, the Guru of Strategic Management
IV. General Information on Planning Tools
V. Additional Information
I. General Definitions: Planning
Planning enables managers to align resources (labor, input, technology) with company goals and objectives (output, profit).
Definition
Planning entails a set of activities including:
• defining organizational goals and objectives
• developing strategies to achieve goals and objectives
• mapping out plans to integrate and coordinate activities
Reasons for planning:
• provide direction (managers and employees need to know where the company is going and how to contribute in order to achieve organizational goals)
• minimize effects of changes in the environment (change characterizes our turbulent environment)
• reduce and eliminate overlap and redundancy (the likelihood that two departments will work on the same project)
• formulate standards and measures of control ( measure to check how goals are met)
Types of Plans:
• Strategic: company wide and long term plan of action in order to achieve organizational objectives to fulfill company vision; sets company in terms of its environment
• Tactical; shorter periods of time (monthly, weekly); assumes and does not formulate objectives
• Long-term: longer than one-year time frames
• Short-term: less than one year
• Directional: broad and general guidelines, flexible
• Specific: clearly defined and inflexible
II. Strategic Management
Required Readings!
View the following presentation about Strategic Management: (please note that it may take time to download this file!)
SWOT Analysis http://marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_swot.htm
Net Mba (2008). Accessed 11/12/2008at: http://www.netmba.com/strategy/process/
