Santo Ltd. has to develop its organisational, plan for the current year and for this purpose they hire professional consultants from the United States. These consultants incurred a lot of money in a collection of facts, figures, surveys, etc., including the salaries of the consultants. This whole process of planning has already proved to be a very costly affair and the eventual total cost may exceed the gains expected from the plan. In addition, the top management did not involve a middle and supervisory level of management during the planning process. These two levels of management are neither allowed to deviate from their plans nor are they permitted to act on their own. They keep thinking along the same lines as others so that nothing new or innovative gets added to the process.
(i) Should Santo Ltd, continue with existing planning with consultants from the United States? Explain with reasons. Also explain, which limitation of planning is reflected in this case?
(ii) Which limitation of planning is reflected when top management does not involve a middle and supervisory level of management during the planning process the above case? What remedial steps can Santo Ltd., take to overcome this limitation?
Santo Ltd. has to develop its organisational, plan for the current year and for this purpose they hire professional consultants from the United States. These consultants incurred a lot of money in a collection of facts, figures, surveys, etc., including the salaries of the consultants. This whole process of planning has already proved to be a very costly affair and the eventual total cost may exceed the gains expected from the plan. In addition, the top management did not involve a middle and supervisory level of management during the planning process. These two levels of management are neither allowed to deviate from their plans nor are they permitted to act on their own. They keep thinking along the same lines as others so that nothing new or innovative gets added to the process.
(i) Should Santo Ltd, continue with existing planning with consultants from the United States? Explain with reasons. Also explain, which limitation of planning is reflected in this case?
(ii) Which limitation of planning is reflected when top management does not involve a middle and supervisory level of management during the planning process the above case? What remedial steps can Santo Ltd., take to overcome this limitation?
(i) Santo Ltd. should not continue with the existing planning with consultants from the United States because despite all collection of facts, figures etc., these consultants are unaware of the workings of the businesses and markets in India. Indians' tastes and preferences keep changing rapidly and the consultants the United States will be unaware and too far to be able to incorporate these changes dynamically in their plans. Planning will involve huge costs and any new changes in plans or future planning will be restricted due to these costs. Huge costs through planning are the major limitation of planning reflected in Santo Ltd.
(ii) Planning process at Santo Ltd. reduced creativity and initiative from their middle and supervisory levels of management. These two levels will conduct daily operations based on the guidelines provided under planning which will restrain creativity and empowerment as well as restrict new ideas and discoveries. Accordingly, Santo Ltd. will need to discontinue preparing plans with American consultants and prepare them in-house. Though this may not guarantee success if the top middle and supervisory levels of management work closely in India by understanding the changing trends, they could collaborate together more often on a continuous basis and prepare dynamic plans that cater to long-term goals of Santo Ltd.
(i) Santo Ltd. should not continue with the existing planning with consultants from the United States because despite all collection of facts, figures etc., these consultants are unaware of the workings of the businesses and markets in India. Indians' tastes and preferences keep changing rapidly and the consultants the United States will be unaware and too far to be able to incorporate these changes dynamically in their plans. Planning will involve huge costs and any new changes in plans or future planning will be restricted due to these costs. Huge costs through planning are the major limitation of planning reflected in Santo Ltd.
(ii) Planning process at Santo Ltd. reduced creativity and initiative from their middle and supervisory levels of management. These two levels will conduct daily operations based on the guidelines provided under planning which will restrain creativity and empowerment as well as restrict new ideas and discoveries. Accordingly, Santo Ltd. will need to discontinue preparing plans with American consultants and prepare them in-house. Though this may not guarantee success if the top middle and supervisory levels of management work closely in India by understanding the changing trends, they could collaborate together more often on a continuous basis and prepare dynamic plans that cater to long-term goals of Santo Ltd.
