GM

MGTS1301 Introduction to Management - Planning and Controlling

Acknowledgement of Country

  • The University of Queensland (UQ) acknowledges the Traditional Owners and their custodianship of the lands.
  • UQ pays respects to their Ancestors and descendants, who maintain cultural and spiritual connections to Country.
  • UQ recognizes their valuable contributions to Australian and global society.

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the planning process and understand its importance to management.
  • Explain the purpose, benefits, and drawbacks of planning.
  • Understand what makes an effective goal.
  • Distinguish between different levels in the planning process and analyze their alignment.
  • Explain the challenges of planning in turbulent environments and how they can be resolved.
  • Describe the control process and understand its connection to planning.
  • Distinguish between different types of control—feedback, concurrent, and feedforward controls.
  • Describe the balanced scorecard approach to control.

Assignment

  • Choose an ethical problem facing managers (from the provided list or your own topic after discussing it).
  • Search for five news articles concerning the chosen ethical problem.
  • Search for three journal articles related to ethics.
  • Write up the assignment using the template in the online module:
    • Section 1: Introduction (150 words)
    • Section 2: Ethical problem facing managers (450 words)
    • Section 3: Summary of journal articles (450 words)
    • Section 4: Application of journal articles to the ethical problem facing managers (600 words)
    • Section 5: Recommendations (350 words)
    • References (APA 7th) and Appendix (Screenshot of journal articles)

Guidance for completing your Assignment

  • Week 4: Read the assignment guidance module and attend/watch the seminar on the assignment.
  • Week 5: Choose your topic and find five newspaper articles on your topic. Draft Section 2 of your assignment.
  • Week 6: Find the three journal articles for your assignment (this can take some time). Read the journal articles and identify the key insight relevant to your issue. Draft Section 3 of your assignment.
  • Week 7: Draft Sections 4, 5, and 1 of your assignment. Include screenshots of the journal articles in your appendix. Last chance for questions and consultation.
  • Week 8: Revise, proofread, and reference your assignment. Submit your assignment on Monday, April 14.

Newspaper vs Journal Articles

  • Newspaper articles (Section 2 of the assignment):
    • Author/s: Journalists
    • Intended audience: General public
    • Purpose: To provide citizens with information and hold the government to account
    • Steps to ensure accuracy: Journalist training, professional codes of conduct and independence, a commitment to verifying facts, review by editors
    • Writing style: General audience (readable by a twelve-year-old)
    • Timeliness: Reports on events as they happen.
  • Journal articles (Section 3 of assignment):
    • Author/s: Academic researchers
    • Intended audience: Other academics
    • Purpose: To make a contribution to knowledge
    • Steps to ensure accuracy: Researcher training, professional codes of conduct and independence, systematic collection and analysis of data, report on research design and limitations, peer review
    • Writing style: Highly technical and discipline-specific. Difficult for those outside of the discipline to understand.
    • Timeliness: Can be years between data collection and publication.

Tutorial Preparation

  • ANZ contributes to bridging the gap with Baidam.
  • A. Forming a partnership with Baidam Solutions is strategic because it helps ANZ meet the goals set out under its Reconciliation Action Plan.
  • B. Forming a partnership with Baidam Solutions is strategic because it is consistent with ANZ’s vision, mission, and values.
  • C. Forming a partnership with Baidam Solutions is strategic because it allows ANZ to plan for change in the context of volatile cybersecurity risks.
  • D. Forming a partnership with Baidam Solutions is strategic because it allows ANZ the ability to effectively engage in the control process in the context of volatile cybersecurity risks.

Grotesque Quest - Planning

  • Benefits of Planning:
    • Establishes goals: Understanding everyone's goals, how many points they were worth, and prioritizing.
    • Provides direction: Realizing that it was worth more points to finish in 30 minutes than to spend an extra 15 minutes visiting grotesques, identifying an opportunity for the team to split up, or to work together with another team.
    • Reduces uncertainty: Realizing that everyone had different information, making a contingency plan.
    • Minimizes waste: Identifying which Grotesques were worth the most points and planning a route to get the most points in the least time.
  • Percentage of teams that applied planning actions:
    • Read all of the information carefully: 78
    • Realised that team members had different goals: 51
    • Realised that you could get extra points for returning to the tutorial room sooner: 47
    • Realised that some grotesques were worth more points than others: 45
    • Identified which grotesques were worth the most points: 38
    • Realised that there were no points associated with taking photos of the grotesques: 37
    • Decided which goals/grotesques to prioritise: 35
    • Managed conflict between team members with different goals: 29
    • Made a plan before leaving the classroom: 22
    • Considered splitting up: 14
  • Better planning ≈ Better performance
    • Greater than 25 points: Read all information carefully 71.9%, Realised team members had different goals 37.5%, Realised extra points for returning sooner 21.9%, Grotesques worth more points 50%, Identified grotesques worth most points 25%, No points for photos 15.6%, Decided which goals prioritise 37.5%, Managed conflict between team members 18.8%, Made plan before leaving classroom 28.1%, Considered splitting up 31.3%.
    • 25.5-75 points: Read all information carefully 87.4%, Realised team members had different goals 49.6%, Realised extra points for returning sooner 37%, Grotesques worth more points 52.6%, Identified grotesques worth most points 48.1%, No points for photos 24.4%, Decided which goals prioritise 54.8%, Managed conflict between team members 28.9%, Made plan before leaving classroom 52.6%, Considered splitting up 21.5%.
    • 75.5-100 points: Read all information carefully 76.4%, Realised team members had different goals 43.9%, Realised extra points for returning sooner 50.7%, Grotesques worth more points 60.8%, Identified grotesques worth most points 49.3%, No points for photos 30.4%, Decided which goals prioritise 56.1%, Managed conflict between team members 27%, Made plan before leaving classroom 58.8%, Considered splitting up 24.3%.
    • Less than 100.5 points: Read all information carefully 83.7%, Realised team members had different goals 56.5%, Realised extra points for returning sooner 62.6%, Grotesques worth more points 66%, Identified grotesques worth most points 50.3%, No points for photos 38.8%, Decided which goals prioritise 66%, Managed conflict between team members 45.6%, Made plan before leaving classroom 70.7%, Considered splitting up 37.4%.

Grotesque Quest - Controlling

  • Controlling Actions Applied:
    • Kept track of time: 79
    • Rechecked information: 65
    • Changed your plan: 39
    • Debriefed on what you did well and what could have been improved: 43
  • Key Takeaways:
    • Feedforward control: Reading the information carefully, sharing information, planning and agreeing on goals.
    • Concurrent control: Keeping track of time, redirecting efforts if you couldn’t find a QR code or if time was running out, readjusting your plan if new information came to light.
    • Feedback Control: Debriefing on what you did well and what could be improved for next time.
  • Better controlling ≈ Better performance
    • Greater than 25 points: Kept track of time 56.3%, Rechecked information 56.3%, Changed your plan 34.4%, Debriefed 37.5%
    • 25.5-75 points: Kept track of time 79.1%, Rechecked information 73.4%, Changed your plan 39.6%, Debriefed 33.8%
    • 75.5-100 points: Kept track of time 81.7%, Rechecked information 65.4%, Changed your plan 34.6%, Debriefed 35.3%
    • Less than 100.5 points: Kept track of time 93.4%, Rechecked information 67.5%, Changed your plan 44.4%, Debriefed 46.4%

Limitations of control metrics

  • But control can lead to gaming…
    • Where you honest when answering the question about how long it look you to get back to the tutorial room?
      • No: 3% Yes: 97%
    • Did you consider you could get more points by lying?
      • No: 79% Yes: 19%
    • Honesty based on total points
      • Yes: >25 points 96%, 25.5 to 75 points 96.9%, 75.5 to 100 points 97.1%, More than 100.5 points 96.1%%$%
      • No: >25 points 3.8%, 25.5 to 75 points 3.1%, 75.5 to 100 points 2.9%, More than 100.5 points 3.3%$%
  • Metrics are an important management tool…if used correctly
  • Beware of “gaming” and perverse incentives
  • A means to an end… not the end
  • Tracked at the right level (Individual? Team? Organisation?)
  • Understood in context (including over time)
  • Used with (not against) employees

Applying Learning in Tutorial Teams

  • Practice → Theory → Practice
  • Planning:
    • Discuss goals with your team members: e.g., Did you want a good grade, to learn, or to do the minimum?
    • Discuss and resolve how to manage conflicting goals.
    • Share student email addresses so team members can contact you.
  • Controlling:
    • Discuss how you will manage your time during tutorials. E.g., Dividing group discussion into talking and writing time, nominating a timekeeper.
    • Listen to feedback from your tutor, ask questions, and implement the feedback to improve.
    • If you miss a tutorial, email team members to catch up/feedback.

Vision, mission and values

  • Examples of Organizational Vision/Purpose:
    • Designing a smoke-free future.
    • Create more smiles with every sip and every bite.
    • Together, we create exceptional experiences with respect and care for our communities.
    • To be earth’s most customer-centric company.
    • To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
    • Powering Australian Life.

Levels in the Planning Process

  • Mission Statement
  • STRATEGIC Goals and Plans
    • Organization as a whole
    • MESSAGES FOR EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
  • TACTICAL Goals and Plans
    • Major divisions and functions
    • MESSAGES FOR INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
  • OPERATIONAL Goals and Plans
    • Departments and individuals