Management Planning (A glance at the Boeing Company)

Planning permits organizations to develop how and what is to be done to meet the needs of the customer, the company, and the environment. Management structure accommodates the need for expertise and experience on important issues including legal issues, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility as opposed to just focusing on profits. Professionals experienced in these fields are necessary and counsel upper management on these issues. The business plan is a living document that a company or organization revolves and evolves from. This paper covers the planning function of management, the influences of legal issues, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility on planning, and analyzes at least three factors that influence the company's strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning.

-The Planning Function of Management

Boeing is a multinational company that continues to grow. Started in 1916 as the Pacific Aero Products Company the company was barely alive. The plan of management starting with William Boeing has changed with the times and the function of the Boeing Company. In hard times William Boeing had to find new ways to pays his employee’s wages. He first secured a loan using his personal finances. Another way plans changed was, for a short time, approximately one year; the Boeing Company produced dressers, counters, and furniture for other businesses. They were able to grab attention by flying mail in a Boeing plane from Vancouver to Seattle. This started a new division in the Boeing Company.

-The Influence of Legal Issues

A company that has any issues at all will have legal issues. Legal issues can come from within the organization or from outside the organization. Legal problems can be expensive for a company. These legal problems can even dissolve a company into nothingness. With stakes so high, companies confront legal issues with a proactive approach, to combat the possibility of costly mistakes. Programs, education, and training are some ways that companies proactively try to remove legal issues from their big picture. In the Army leaders had to do risk assessments for training exercises, listing the risks and then next to them suggesting actions that could lower the risk. Policies, procedures, and processes play an important role in setting standards for all employees to follow. Boeing has a leadership center in St. Louis, Missouri in which all levels of management go and stay for weeks at a time for training in areas of EEO, management development, and business ethics (The Boeing Company, 1995–2010).

-The Influence of Ethics

Business ethics have companies stumbling over themselves to address the issue in writing and enforce from top to bottom. Ethics are important to organizations because good ethics build trust in the relationships with consumers and business partners. Boeing has several programs to maintain the practice of good business ethics: Recommitment to Ethics, Code of Conduct, and the Ethics Challenge (The Boeing Company, 1995–2010). Boeing is focuses on maintaining good business ethics and dedicates company funds for employee training hours. Once a year the company has the three activities, Recommitment to Ethics, Code of Conduct and the Ethics Challenge, all are on the company’s time and mandatory. Senior leaders coordinate and run the activities. Boeing also has a 45 page ethics manual for each new employee who joins the company, these resources are, “Ethical Business Conduct Guidelines.” All the ethical practices of the company, according to the standards of ethical business in the New York Stock Exchange corporate governance rules, are viewable in this manual.

-The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility

Philanthropy and preservation of the environment are part of planning for large and small organizations. Companies and corporations can strengthen or depreciate mankind and the environment. Boeing is a large company and also will have a big effect on the environment and humankind. Mankind has a will to protect the earth and the environment, so companies that disregard this have to answer for what they are doing to ruin the environment. Companies also understand the value of resources and understand that the earth, the environment, and mankind are the most valuable resources in existence. Companies must reflect the wants and needs of the consumer and the employees of the respective company. Boeing and other companies openly practice philanthropy and strive to operate without a negative effect on the environment. An example of Boeings efforts to improve the quality of life around the world is through, Humanitarian Delivery Flights. Boeing delivers planes all over the world to their customers. They use this first flight to deliver humanitarian aid to the region of the plane delivery. Medical supplies, food, water or items an area has a need for, fills the empty cargo space on the plane and is taken to the area of delivery with the plane (The Boeing Company, 1998-2010). To help improve the environment Boeing has partnered with, Botanic Gardens Conservation International. The shared goal of this partnership is to replenish tree and plant life all across the world (The Boeing Company, 1998-2010).

-Three Factors that Influence the Company's Strategic, Tactical, Operational, and Contingency Planning

I believe four factors influence a company’s strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. Quality, cost, schedule, and customer satisfaction are important factors that influence planning for companies. Quality is important to a company, not only the product or service provided but also the employees and their efforts at work. Boeing as an organization must plan a process that allows improvement, quality production, and quality assurance. Company costs, or expenses to the accountants, must fulfill the logical purpose and not exceed profits to ensure financial stability. Planning includes cost overrun outcomes and solutions to benefit the company. In many parts of life timing is important business is one aspect of life that is not exempt. Strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning must touch the issue of schedules and scheduling. Some people are understand of tardiness, some are turning it into a return on their investments, video rental stores, credit card companies, and others, Boeing, on the other hand, will lose contracts, and revenue for making a late delivery. Last the factor that ties the other three together is customer satisfaction. Even if the company thinks, they are doing everything right, they will not know for sure unless they have customer feedback. Customer feedback will allow Boeing to be responsive. Collecting and processing the feedback gives the company insight to product success, flaws, and unnecessary production costs (extras not used by the customer and not critical to the sell). Taking these four factors into consideration when making a strategical, tactical, operational, and contingency plan will positively influence an organization’s plan a successful one.

I have addressed the topic of the planning function of management, the influences of legal issues, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility on planning, and analyzed at least three factors that influence the company's strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. I recall a childish saying that states, “You cannot beat a quitter,” that means if they do not participate they will not suffer defeat. What is left out is that a quitter cannot succeed either if they have eliminated the chance for failure, without failure there is no way to determine success. Paying attention to influences that affect planning allows proper planning. I believe that William Boeing and those who have followed him have been successful with their plan because they were attentive, allowed the company to be flexible and responsive, and they shared a desire to make the Boeing Company a success.

References

The Boeing Company. (1995-2010). Boeing: Ethics and Business Conduct. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/ethics/education.htm

The Boeing Company. (1995-2010). Boeing Leadership Center. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/leadershipcenter/xblc2.htm

The Boeing Company. (1998-2010). Corporate Citizenship Report 2009. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/community/2009_report/botanic_gardens.html

The Boeing Company. (1998-2010). Corporate Citizenship Report 2009. Retrieved from http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/community/2009_report/humanitarian.html