Levels of Planning in Management

Levels of Planning

Many times we think of planning as one function of management with no variety. Any time you are looking to the future you are just planning. Throughout this week's readings, the class has learned that there are actually four levels of planning. These levels include: strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. Each level has a different purpose and impact on the planning process. In the following paragraphs, we are going to describe three of the four levels of planning and how three different companies (MCI World Com, Empire, and GE) use them to their advantage. First we will look at how GE uses tactical planning in the employment of producing parts for turbine engines. Then we will talk about how MCI's operational planning built a reputation that carried them through difficult times. Lastly, we will discover how Empire embraced a new product and used strategic planning to overcome some daunting obstacles.

Tactical planning is a set of procedures for translating broad strategic goals of an organization down to a specific set of goals for a distinct portion of the organization (Bateman, 2003, p. 112). Our goals for GE Energy is to provide our customer with the highest quality part with unparalleled customer service, while effectively utilizing every employee working in an environment of mutual respect, dignity and unyielding integrity. You will see how this translates to our facility (GE Energy).

        We are a small facility that falls under the GE Energy division. At our facility we manufacture the blades that go into gas turbines to generate electricity. This is just a small part of what goes into building a gas turbine. We strive to manufacture blades at the lowest cost while providing our customer with the highest quality part. We have a set of procedures to follow...