Deca planning vocab

Goal

• is something to be achieved in a specified timeframe

• Goals are desired outcomes or targets an organization is striving to accomplish

• First step in planning

• Serve as guidelines for decisions and actions of managers

SMART goal

• Specific: should be specific and straightforward

• Measurable: progress should be measurable

• Attainable: needs to be attainable

• Realistic: must be realistic

• Timely: should be accomplished by a definitive date

Strategic plan

• is a plan designed to achieve long-term goals of organization as a whole

  • Plan projects for the future

  • Written by senior management

Tactical plan

• is a plan involving activities needed to implement strategic plans defined by senior management 

  • Includes short-term goals

  • Written and executed by middle level managers

Operational plan

• is a plan that defines day-to-day tasks and activities that employees must perform to meet company goals

  • Usually written for the quarter and then the year

  • Used by supervisory management to define job responsibilities outlined in tactical plans

Contingency plan

• is a backup plan that outlines alternative courses of action to take if other plans prove unproductive or circumstances beyond control change

• Management considers operating problems and natural disasters

• Good management requires “keeping all options open”

Market research

• is gathering and analyzing information to help make sound marketing decisions

  • Includes reviewing environment in which organization operates

  • Environment includes internal and external factors 

    • Internal factors are those that organization can control

    • External factors are those that organization cannot control

Primary research

• is first-hand research conducted by researcher, either 

  • Someone in organization

  • Outside agency to provide market research

• Examples:

  • Surveys

  • Focus groups

  • Case studies

Secondary research

• is data already collected and recorded by someone else and others can use it

• Examples:

  • Internet data on industry sales information and statistics

  • Government sources

  • Industry data

  • Academic data

Competition

• is two or more businesses attempting to attract same customers

Competitive analysis

• is tool used to compare the strengths and weaknesses of a business with those of competing businesses

Revenue

• is money that business makes from goods and services it sells; also called income or sales

Sales forecast

• or projection, is prediction of future sales based on past sales and market analysis for specific time period

Management Information Systems

• is integrated system of computer hardware and software that gathers information and presents it in manner to be used in decision-making process

Strategic planning process

• is designed to achieve long-term goals of organization as a whole

  • Used to communicate to employees and owners

    • Where organization is today

    • Where it is going in future

    • How it will get there

  • Projects two years, four years, or more into the future

Steps for this:

• Review mission and vision statements

• Establish organizational goals

• Conduct situation analysis

• Formulate strategic plan

Mission statement

• organization’s message to customers about why business exists

Vision statement

• what business aspires to accomplish

  • Reviewing statements enable management to prioritize strategies to keep organization focused on its purpose

Business plan

• is written document that describes a business, how it operates, and how it makes a profit

  • Written when business is started and updated every year

Planning tool

• is instrument that guides plan into action

  • SWOT analysis 

SWOT analysis

•  is identification of organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

  • Strengths are internal factors that give company a competitive advantage

  • Weaknesses are internal factors that place company at a disadvantage relative to competitors

  • Opportunities refer to favorable external conditions or trends that provide company opportunity to generate profits

  • Threats are external factors that can potentially jeopardize company’s growth or ability to generate profits

PEST analysis

• is an evaluation of political, economic, social, and technological factors in a certain market or geographic region that may affect success of business

• Example of an environmental analysis, also called environmental scan

  • Environment scan examines external factors that are beyond control of a business and can affect its success

Tactic

• is a strategy or action planned to reach end goal

• Short term and usually covers a year or less

• Defines how an organization will use its resources

Budget

• which is a financial plan that reflects anticipated revenue in numerical terms and shows how it will be allocated in operation of business

  • Usually created for each department in organization and rolled into one master company budget

  • Helps managers keep within money limit for operations

Schedule

• is a plan that identifies time and resources needed to complete tasks and activities

  • Necessary to ensure

    • Deadlines are met

    • Plans are executed in a timely manner

    • Appropriate human resources are available

  • Example: Gantt chart is type of bar chart used to show when task is supposed to be completed and compares it to actual progress of task

Policy

• is set of rules and regulations that guide the decision-making process

  • Support mission and goals of an organization

  • Define how to handle situations

  • Upper management usually creates policies that apply mostly to

    • Operational routines

    • Recurring situations

    • Issues

Procedure

• is description of how to complete a task and how a policy will be applied

  • Should outline

    • Steps needed to complete task

    • Resources, forms, or documents needed to complete task

    • Department or person responsible for completing task

  • Improves efficiency and saves money because it takes guesswork out of what needs to occur