PLANNING AND CYBERNATIC CONTROLS Long Range, Action Planning, and Budgets

By:

Eka Darmadi Lim Gerry Geraldo Y Reni Handuweni Isa Tridjojo

3094802 3094806 3104011 3105802

Class: Y

University of Surabaya Faculty of Business and Economics International Class (IBN & PA) 2012

Figure of Management Control Package

There are a number of reasons why studying the MCS package phenomenon is important. Firstly, MCS do not operate in isolation. While much of the MCS research considers single themes or practices that are seemingly unconnected from each other and the context in which they operate, these invariably sit within a broader control system.

There are five types of controls in the typology; planning, cybernetic, reward and compensation, administrative and cultural controls.

Planning Controls

Firstly, it sets out the goals of the functional areas of the organization, there by directing effort and behavior. Secondly, it provides the standards to be achieved in relation to the goals, and clarifies the level of effort and behavior expected from organization members.

In relation to planning, there are two broad approaches. The first is action planning, in which the goals and actions for the immediate future, usually a 12-month period or less, are established. This has a tactical focus. The second broad approach is longrange planning, in which the goals and actions for the medium and long run are established. This has a more strategic focus.

Component inside Planning Controls:

1. Action Planning 2. Long Range Planning

Cybernetic

There are five characteristics of cybernetic control (Green and Welsh, 1988). First, there are measures that enable quantification of an underlying phenomenon, activity or system. Second, there are standards of performance or targets to be met. Third, there is a feedback process that enables comparison of the outcome of the activities with the standard. This variance analysis arising from the feedback is the fourth aspect of cybernetic control systems. Fifth is the ability to modify the systems behavior or underlying activities

Component Inside Cybernetic: 1. Budgets 2. Financial Measurement 3. Non-Financial Measurement 4. Hybrids

Reward / Compensation

Motivating and increasing the performance of individuals and groups through attaching rewards to control effort direction, effort duration, and effort intensity.

Administrative

Administrative control systems are those that direct employee behavior through the organizing of individuals (organization design and structure), the monitoring of behavior and who employees are made accountable to for their behavior (governance); and through the process of specifying how tasks or behaviors are to be performed or not performed (policies and procedures), (Simons, 1987).

Component inside Administrative 1. Organizational design and structure 2. Governance Structures within the firms 3. Procedures and policies

Culture

The values, beliefs and social norms which are established influence employees behavior. (Birnberg and Snodgrass, 1988; Dent, 1991; Pratt and Beaulieu, 1992).

Cybernetic Controls Cybernetic control as a process in which a feedback loop is represented by using standards of performance, measuring system performance, comparing that performance to standards, feeding back information about unwanted variances in the systems, and modifying the systems comportment

In organizations a cybernetic system can either be an information system or control system contingent upon how it is used. A cybernetic system would be an information and decision-support system if managers themselves detected unwanted variances and modified their underlying behavior or activity that influenced the variance (for example in a production process) without anyone elses involvement.

Four basic Cybernetic systems in M.C.S 1. Budgets 2. Financial Measurement 3. Non-Financial Measurement 4. Hybrid

Budgeting is central to, and the foundation of,MCSin most organizations and its use is almost universal (Bunce et al.,1995). This is due to its ability to weave together all the disparate threads of an organization into a comprehensive plan that serves many different purposes, particularly performance planning and ex post evaluation of actual performance vis a vis the plan (Hansen et al., 2003; p. 96).

Non-financial measures are becoming an increasingly important part of MCS within contemporary organizations and they may be used to overcome some of the perceived limitations in financial measures and to identify the drivers of performance. They may also be the result of using other management initiatives, such as TQM.

Finally, hybrid performance measurement systems contain both financial and nonfinancial measures. Hybrid forms of performance measurement have been in use for some time, with the earlier approaches including such systems of management by objectives (MBO) (Greenwood, 1981; Kondrasuk, 1981). In more recent times the BSC, which is a comprehensive MCS with both financial and non-financial performance measures, has become quite dominant (Ittner and Larcker, 1998; Kaplan and Norton, 1992, 1996a,b, 2001a,b; Malina and Selto, 2001).

Planning Control

Planning and budgeting system are important element of financial results control systems. Planning and Budgeting systems essentially produce written plans that clarify organizations goals, how to get there (strategies), and what results should be expected (performance targets).

Planning is decision making in advance or we can say planning is looking ahead and chalking out future courses of action to be followed. When an organization setting their plan of the company the managers must be aware with the conditions of environment which facing their organization and forecast future conditions so the managers must be good in making decisions. Setting goals and developing plans helps the organization to move in a focused direction while operating in an efficient and effective manner.

As we seen on the figure of management control package, planning control is divided into long-range planning and action planning. Action planning, the goals, and actions for the immediate future, 12 months period or less, are established. (Tactical focus).

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. Or establishing a plan to realize a goal or group of goals over a number of years based on current knowledge about the future. Long range planning is necessary precisely because it cannot forecast. Once long-range planning has been set it represent the organization's long-term direction. Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service or program. There are a variety of perspectives, models and approaches used in strategic planning. The way that a strategic plan is developed depends on the nature of the

organization's leadership, culture of the organization, complexity of the organization's environment, size of the organization, expertise of planners, etc. For example, there are a variety of strategic planning models, including goals-based, issues-based, organic, scenario (some would assert that scenario planning is more of a technique than model), etc. 1. Goals-based planning is probably the most common and starts with focus on the organization's mission (and vision and/or values), goals to work toward the mission, strategies to achieve the goals, and action planning (who will do what and by when). 2. Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining issues facing the organization, strategies to address those issues and action plans. Some plans are scoped to one year, many to three years, and some to five to ten years into the future. Some plans include only top-level information and no action plans. Some plans are five to eight pages long, while others can be considerably longer. Strategic planning involves both analysis of the past (using data cost, revenue, etc.) and forecast of the future. Then it leads to the creation of hypotheses, about how the firm and each of its businesses will perform within an uncertain competitive environment. A complete, formal strategic planning process leads to definitions of the corporate diversification strategy and the strategies of all the SBU, identification of resource requirements, and statement of tentative performance goals. Strategic planning provides a framework for the more detailed planning that takes place in the planning cycles that follow. By the end of the cycle, business unit managers should have reached agreement with corporate management about their units charter, objectives, and strategy.

Six iterative steps of Strategic planning processes: 1. Develop a corporate vision, mission, and objectives for the firm. 2. Understand the firms present position, SWOT. 3. Decide on a corporate diversification strategy that identifies what businesses the firm should and should not be in.

4. Decide on a strategy for each SBU, the path of action that best takes advantage of each businesss opportunities and strengths. 5. Prepare the strategic plan, which is qualitative and quantitative representation of strategic actions to be taken and the likely outcome. 6. Monitor performance and update the strategic plan as necessary. Tools for Strategic Planning The most useful tools for strategic planning are SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). The main objective of this tool is to analyze internal strategic factors, strengths and weaknesses attributed to the organization, and external factors beyond control of the organization such as opportunities and threats.

Other tools include: Balanced Scorecards, which creates a systematic framework for strategic planning; Scenario planning, which was originally used in the military and recently used by large corporations to analyze future scenarios.

Purpose of Strategic Plan for Organizations: Strategic plans bring many advantages for the organizations, those are: 1. Strategic plans clearly define the purpose of the organization and to establish realistic goals and objectives consistent with that mission in a defined time frame within the organizations capacity for implementation. Therefore, strategic plan may help to solve major problems in the organization.

2. By developing Strategic plans, organizations can communicate their goals and objectives to the organizations key leaders. By providing clearer focus for the organization, the production can be more efficient and effective by focusing the organizations resources on the key priorities.

3. Develop a sense of ownership of the plan. Because in making the strategic plan, planners should listen to everyones opinions (managers involved) in order to build consensus about where the organization is going.

4. Provide a base from which progress can be measured and establish a mechanism for informed change when needed. When Should Strategic Planning Be Done? The scheduling for the strategic planning process depends on the nature and needs of the organization and its immediate external environment. For example, planning should be carried out frequently in an organization whose products and services are in an industry that is changing rapidly.

Strategic planning should be done when an organization is just getting started. (The strategic plan is usually part of an overall business plan, along with a marketing plan, financial plan and operational/management plan). Strategic planning should also be done in preparation for a new major venture, for example, developing a new department, division, major new product or line of products, etc.

Action planning is the planning that guides your day-to-day work. In other words action planning means a sequence of steps that must be taken, or activities that must be performed well, for a strategy to succeed. Action planning needs a strategic plan to know what is the main goals of the company or where are the company manage to get. Action planning is important because without action planning the strategic planning will remain a grand dream and the company wont achieved their goals. Strategic planning will help the company to prepare the action planning. An action plan is how you're going to implement that strategy. Action plan has three major elements: 1. Specific tasks The specific task means what to achieve and being done also who will make it done.

2. Time horizon Estimated length of time for a plan, program, or project to complete, an endeavor to succeed, an investment to yield returns, an obligation to become due, a right to mature, etc. In the time horizon it has to be clear when is the goals being achieved.

3. Resource allocation Resource allocation focused on what specific funds are available for specific activities sometimes it called action program.

An effective action plan should give the company a concrete timetable and set of clearly defined steps to help the company to reach their objective, rather than aimlessly wondering what to do next. It helps the company to focus on their ideas. The goals of the company must be smart which means specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely because by setting smart goals the company can make modifications in their activities to accommodate the goals and update are they still on the track or not and when targets are missed its easier to react quickly and make necessary changes.

Action planning is a cyclical process, and once you have been through one cycle, you can start again at the beginning. But in the real life it might be different because in the real life it could be more complicated if we compared with the theory. In the real life you may change your goals as you progress, and you must be prepared to revise your plan as circumstances dictate. The stage that the company has to follow when they setting the action planning are they have to know where is their position in the current time they also have to review their achievements and progress, and undertake self-assessment. Beside knowing where are their position they also have to set their goals which mean the company already set where they want to put the company between the society and the segment their target to achieve their goals. After setting their goals the company must decide the strategy they will use and implemented it. The main step in preparing an action plan are : 1. Have a clear objective 2. List the benefit that the company would gain by achieving their goals 3. Define clearly what step that the company will take 4. Arrange the steps in a logical, chronological order and put a date by which the company will start each step 5. Try to map out several paths to the goals 6. Think about the type of problem that might encounter at each step. 7. Review the progress Effective planning processes make control system proactive, not just reactive because an action control force managers to think about the future and make decision in advance. Managers should develop a better understanding of the organizations opportunities and threats, strength and weakness, and the effects of possible strategic and operational decision.

Budgeting

The process of budgeting is initiated with the establishment of specific targets of performance and is followed by executing plans to achieve such desired goals and from time to time comparing actual results with the targets of performances/goals. Although the effectiveness of budgeting processes varies among institutions, invariably a process does exist. Most institutions of higher education also have a strategic plan and a strategic planning process. Once again, the effectiveness of the process may vary, but a process does exist. Strategic planning also has a relation to budgeting because they both involve a planning but they have different activities in two processes. The budgeting process focuses on a single year, whereas strategic planning focuses on activities that extend over a period of several years. Strategic planning precedes budgeting and provides the framework within which the annual budget is developed. Another difference is product lines or other programs essentially structure the former, while the latter is structured by responsibility centers.

The contrast between budgeting and forecasting is budget concern to management plan, with the implicit assumption that positive steps will be taken by the budgeter (the manager who prepares the budget) to make actual events correspond to the plan. While forecast is merely a prediction of what will most likely happen, carrying no implication that the forecaster will attempt to so shape events that the forecast will be realized.

The uses of budgets are: Preparation of an operating budget has four principal purposes.

1. Fine-Turning the strategic plan 2. Coordination 3. Assigning responsibility 4. Basis for performance evaluation

A budget acts as the formal process that establishes the authority on how funds are to be collected and spent. Managements objective is to provide a logical, detailed and realistic spending plan. Once a plan has been decided upon and is formally adopted by the company, the budget acts as an effective management tool by providing a means of identifying and allocating limited resources (Revenues), and monitoring their use (Expenditures). The budget also is used to help prevent the company from overspending. Budget reports provide management with information on operations, allowing the organization to monitor and control spending and revenue collection while they are in progress. Hence, budgets alone are meaningless unless they are used to motivate responsible action and to direct operations toward accomplishing objectives that have been established by management as desirable.

Types of Plans and Their Contents Strategic Plan: Revenue and expense for each major program Not necessarily by responsibility centers Not as much detail as operating budget More expense are variable For several years Total reconciles to operating budget

Operating Budget: For organization as a whole and for each business unit Classified by responsibility centers Typically includes revenues, production cost & cost of sales, marketing expense, logistics expense, general and administrative, research & development, income taxes, net income Expenses may be flexible, discretionary, committed For one year divided into months or quarters Total reconciles to strategic plan

Capital Budget: Each major capital project listed separately Total project expenditures by quarters

Other Budgets:

Budgeted balance sheet that shows the balance sheet

implications of decisions included in the operating budget and the capital budget, : Budgeted cash flow statement shows how much of the cash needs during the year will be supplied by retained earnings and how much if any must be obtained by borrowing or from other outside sources, : Management by objectives that managers are responsible for attaining during the budget year are set forth in the budgets described above.

Budget Preparation Process Organization Budget department: normally reports to the corporate controller, administers the information flow of the budgetary control system. Budget committee: consists of member of senior management, such as the chief executive officer, chief operating officer, and the chief financial officer. The budget committee performs a vital role. Issuance of Guidelines If a company has a strategic planning process, the first year of the strategic plan is the beginning of the budget preparation process. If the company has no strategic plan, management needs to think about the future. Unlike budget preparation, development of the strategic plan usually does not involve lower-level responsibility center managers. Initial Budget Proposal Using the guidelines, responsibility center managers, assisted by their staffs, develop a budget request.

Negotiation The budgeter discusses the proposed budget with his or her superior.

Review and approval The proposed budgets go up through successive levels in the organization.

Budget revisions One of the principal considerations in budget administration is the procedure for revising a budget after it has been approved. Contingency budgets Some companies routinely prepare contingency budgets that identify management actions to be taken if there is a significant decrease in the sales volume from what was anticipated at the time of developing the budget.

Quantitative Techniques

Although mathematical techniques and computers improve the budgetary process, they do not solve the critical problems of budgetary control. The critical problems in budgeting tend to be in the behavioral area.

Simulation: is a method that constructs a model of a real situation and then manipulates this model in such a way as to draw some conclusions about the real situation. The preparation and review of a budget is a simulation process.

Probability estimates: each number in a budget is a point estimate. Some authors have proposed that budgets be prepared initially using probability distributions instead of point estimates: that is, the budget committee would approve a number of probability distributions rather than specific amounts.

Budget Limitations

a. The budget is based on estimates or projections of the activities to be come, the accuracy of the estimate is dependent upon experience and the ability of

the estimator or projector, inaccuracy resulting budget not good as a planning, coordinating, and monitoring well. b. The budget must be adjusted to changes in conditions and assumptions. The budget is prepared on the basis of the conditions and assumptions underlying the preparation budget necessitated a revision of the budget so that the budget can be used as a management tool. Changes in such assumptions or conditions may include: the rate of inflation or government policy in the field of economics. c. The budget can be used as a tool by management only if all parties, especially the managers of the company, continuously and coordinated effort and is responsible for achieving goals specified in the budget. d. All parties in the company needs to realize that the budget is a tool to help management, but it can not replace the function management and "judgment" is required on the basis of management knowledge and experience.

Principal Terms of the Program Budget Successfully

1. Healthy Corporate Organization

A healthy organization is an organization that is based on the system particular organization, may conduct a functional division of tasks with clear, and define the lines of authority and responsibility firmly.

2. Adequate Accounting Systems The success of the program budget should be supported by the accounting system appropriate, include: a. Classification of accounts between the same budgets with the realization that will be recorded by the accounting, the realization that the budget can be compared. b. Accounting records of the transaction will provide information from the realization. c. The report presented can be made in accordance with the determination of the level of responsibility of the individual or the organization.

3. Research and Analysis

Research and analysis is required to establish performance gauges, which can be either standard or estimated, so that the budget can be used base analysis to measure good performance. 4. Support from the Executive

Budget may work well when there is active support from the executive from the base level or below, this involves human relationships in carrying out the activities, therefore the benchmark used to measure achievement with just must have.

CASE Budgeting an unnecessary evil

1. What is the extent of dissatisfaction with budgeting system in North American Companies? Are companies planning to abandon their budgeting systems or radically modify them? So if how?

In North American, more than 150 organizations listed budgeting as the most frequent used. So many people use budgeting system and their organization still working well until now. If there is any dissatisfaction, they prefer to modify them rather than abandon their budgeting systems.

2. What role does the budgeting system play in todays organization? How do managers deal with the conflicting role of budgets?

Some organizations adopt the traditional roles, some organizations combine the role with their own analysis and condition. As we mention before, a budget acts as the formal process that establishes the authority on how funds are to be collected and spent. Managements objective is to

provide a logical, detailed and realistic spending plan. Once a plan has been decided upon and is formally adopted by the company, the budget acts as an effective management tool by providing a means of identifying and allocating limited resources (Revenues), and monitoring their use (Expenditures). Budget reports provide management with information on operations, allowing the organization to monitor and control spending and revenue collection while they are in progress. Hence, budgets alone are meaningless unless they are used to motivate responsible action and to direct operations toward accomplishing objectives that have been established by management as desirable.

3. If the budget is no longer playing some of its traditional roles, what process is organization using to achieve the roles hat budgets traditionally played?

Operational and strategic planning process. We can use them to achieve their role.

4. Are organization beginning to adopt some of the basic components of the BBRTs empowerment and performance Management? Yes. They adopt some of the basic components of the BBRTs empowerment and performance Management such as activity based models to improve their organizations.

5. Model? If so, which elements are being adopted and what type of organization are doing so? (1) Activity and resource consumption rates, (2) resource capacity, (3) resource cost, (4) product/service demand quantity, and (5) product/service price. Because traditional budgeting processes do not collect information on

activity and resource consumption rates, they offer fewer possibilities to adjust the budget.

6. Are any patterns evident in the control elements of high performance companies that are satisfied with their budgeting system?

There are many companies in North America that are satisfied with their budgeting system.

Source

1. http://www.managementstudyguide.com/planning_function.htm 2. http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/node/1564 3. http://business.yourdictionary.com/long-range-planning 4. http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsactionplanning.htm 5. http://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/actionplanning.htm 6.