Introduction
Sound management is crucial to the good performance and survival of all corporate entities of any size. It is even more important especially for companies that operate on a global scale (McDaniel & Gitman, 2008, p. 215). Management entails among other perspectives the coordination and allocation of the resources available to the firm to implement its plans and avoid unnecessary disruptions (McDaniel & Gitman, 2008, p. 215). Management becomes even important for big companies such as Boeing that are complicated and can easily be derailed through bureaucracy and red tape.
This essay will emphasize corporate management planning with a particular analysis of Boeing, the American aviation company. The planning function of management will be for the first part of the analysis. The second part section will focus on the impacts of legal, ethical, and CSR issues on management planning. The third section will highlight three factors that help in determining a company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. It is important to note that the above analysis will largely take place in the context of Boeing Company.
Given the important role that Boeing plays in civil and military aviation, the planning function of management cannot be overstated. Besides, the company owes its success and ability to keep up with competitors like Airbus to sound management planning.
The Planning Function
The core aim of the planning function of management is to effectively set goals and objectives in an organization and put in place the necessary prerequisites to achieve them. Effective corporate plans will detail the activities as well as the tasks that the organization will undertake to achieve the set goals and objectives. Concurring with the above views, Siegel & Shim (2000, p. 115), assert that planning is a function of management at all levels and that it should be undertaken with considerable care at all levels. Additionally, the planning function of management must also take into account the unforeseen challenges that can easily stall operations.
Like in many corporates, the planning function of management at Boeing is taken seriously. The company has adopted a departmental approach in its planning function. Through this approach, the company aims at achieving efficiency and innovativeness in its vital departments. Each department at Boeing is charged with setting their goals-more often than not efficiently- and coming up with mechanisms on how to achieve them. According to (McDaniel & Gitman, 2008, p. 215), Boeing most of the time implements its departmental planning strategy with its rival Airbus in mind. The planning function in the company saw Boeing shift its development strategy from plane capacity to plane efficiency. The elaborate planning function of management that has been implemented has as result helped it rank ahead of its rival Airbus especially in the last decade.
Impact of legal, ethics, and CSR issues on management
Management planning is not immune from external factors such as ethics, legal factors, and corporate social responsibility. It is uncommon nowadays to find a large corporate organization in the rank of Boeing that is not involved in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Willmott & Knights, 2007, p. 507). According to Willmott & Knights (2007, p. 507), corporate social responsibility is now synonymous with ethics; a concern that is shared among business leaders. As result, the corporate world has enhanced its association with business ethics to promote good corporate governance and sound management planning practices. Besides CSR, there are legal issues that corporate entities like Boeing have to take into account. Given that they manufacture products that hold enough potential to cause loss of life, the legal perspective comes in handy to regulate and help in enhancing responsibility. Legal issues deal mainly with corporate entities’ compliance with laid down industrial rules and procedures.
The influences the above factors have had on the planning function on management at Boeing are evident (Jennings, 2010, p. 72). Part of the shift in strategy in making efficient planes included the manufacture of plane bodies with lightweight composite materials which have been hailed as being environmentally friendly. The efforts to develop planes with efficient use of fuel as well as the emphasis on safety that has characterized product development highlight the influence of CSR initiatives on the planning function of management.
To avoid unnecessary legal tussles resulting from carelessness that endanger consumers, Boeing always prints manuals for pilots and engineers that detail the use of its products and also help engineers to design better repair plans. This is in line with the existing laws and regulations as enforced by bodies such as the Federal Aviation Authority. In terms of ethics effect on management planning, Boeing considers possible irregularities on its side in the bidding and procurement processes as well as possible fraud involving awarding of lucrative military contracts (Prichard, 2004, p.1). To that effect, the management hierarchy at the company has put in place internal regulations that ensure that is members of staff meet the ethical standards as outlined in the code of conduct and ethics.
Important factors in the strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning of a company
According to Semanik & Sollish (2006, p. 342), contingency plans are developed purposely to spell out specific measures that will be taken in case of unanticipated circumstances. They further add that contingency plans take into account strategic, tactical, and operational planning elements of a corporate entity (Semanik & Solish, 2006, p. 342). It is worth noting that the strategic aspect of developing contingency plans is the necessity of developing risk analysis and putting in place the mitigation measures that may be needed in case unforeseen circumstances happen in high-impact areas. Several factors influence the above planning aspects in a corporate environment, in this case, Boeing. At Boeing, reliability, environmental concerns, and performance of the products are some of the factors that greatly influence the above-mentioned elements of planning management.
Strategic planning at Boeing helps the company in its penetration of the market and development of the abilities to establish loyal clients. Every department in the company carries out its tactical planning while operational planning is overseen by managers whose roles include in time implementation and completion of tasks by the staff they supervise. The three factors: environmental concern, reliability, and performance have consistently influenced the planning elements of Boeing Corporation (Murthy et al., 2009, p. 113). The factors and others not mentioned will continue to influence contingency planning especially given the dynamic and volatile industry in which Boeing operates.
Conclusion
In the above discussion, efforts have been made to define the basic meanings of the planning function, the impact of legal, ethics, and CSR issues on management, and the important factors that influence the strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning of a company. More importantly, the discussion has examined how the above factors apply to Boeing Corporation. It is important to note that besides Boeing, the above concepts of management can also apply to many other corporate entities depending on their nature of business and the industry in which they operate.
References
- Jennings, M. M. (2010). Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment. New York: Cengage Learning.
- McDaniel, C. & Gitman, L.J. (2008).The Future of Business: The Essentials. London: Cengage Learning.
- Murthy, P.N.D. et al. (2009). Product Reliability: Specification and Performance. NJ: Springer.
- Pritchard, D. (2004). Industrial Subsidies and the Politics of World Trade: The Case of the Boeing. The Industrial Geographer. Web.
- Semanik, J. & Sollish, F. (2006). The purchasing and supply manager’s guide to the C.P.M. exam. New York: John Wiley& Sons Publishing.
- Siegel, G.J. & Shim, K.J. (2000). Operations Management. New York: Barron’s Education Series.
- Willmott, H. & Knights, D. (2007). Introducing Organizational Behavior and Management. London: Cengage Learning EMEA.