Research Paper on Planning for Long-Term Success

Introduction

Planning is whereby a company envisions its missions and sets appropriate strategies for achieving that mission. Organizations use long-term plans when planning for long-range vision. Appropriate planning offers a vibrant motivation for an organization, raises effort, and increases persistence. On the other hand, lack of creativity and flexibility in a plan can significantly affect an organization's purpose. This paper intends to look at the developmental tasks for lasting accomplishments of organizations in different stages.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The Six Developmental Tasks Necessary for Long-Term Success

One of the most crucial factors in planning for an enduring success of a company is to consider developmental tasks. When the company identifies its business foundation, the next thing is to generate essential tasks for shaping success in all stages of growth, and this involves recognizing the several tasks of development. The first task is detecting marketing prospects and generating a market position. Here, the organization identifies a target market sector and settles on a market position, which is the generation of workable competitive benefits to govern the identified market area. This task is followed by service and product developments which satisfies the desires of the targeted market. This task will only succeed if the identification of the market segment was successful, that is, the consumers and their preferences. The next task includes development and acquisition of extra capitals which are essential for the future and present development of the organization (Flamholtz & Kurland, 2005).

The fourth task is the development of functional systems, and this involves the active running of the day to day processes, by creating essential structures to aid in the facilitation of the operations. The fifth task then is the creation of management structures which are required for long-term development and growth of a company. The management structures to be created are performance systems, administration structure, management development, and planning systems. The last task needed for long-lasting success is the development of the organization's culture which includes the beliefs, values, and norms which control the people's daily behaviors ((Flamholtz & Kurland, 2005).

Keys to Success in Developing Stage I and II Organizations

Organizations in stages I and II are a representation of the entrepreneurial point of growth which requires various keys to success in development. Organizations in stage I are quite upcoming enterprises, and three keys are essential for their development (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012). The keys comprise of the capability of identifying or defining a market preference, developing and providing services and products which would meet the consumer's likings, and building an organization with the capacity of functioning daily in the provision of the services or products. Example of an organization in stage I is the Apple company (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012).

Stage II enterprises are in the rapid phase of organizational growth which begins when the company solves the main issues faced in starting a business (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012). In this stage, only two keys are required in the developmental process. The first key is the capacity of obtaining resources and creation of complex operational systems. Since quick growth puts several demands on the organization, it needs to create adequate personnel, physical, technical, and financial resources to cater for the growth of demands. The other key is the capacity to assimilate novel systems of operation in the organization efficiently (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012). An organization in this stage is the Levain Bakery.

The Difference Between an Entrepreneurship and a Professionally Managed Organization

According to Dion (2012), entrepreneurial management is defined by a free-spirited nature, lack of systems, and informality. Most of these organizations are under private ownership. On the other hand, a professionally managed organization is characterized by a profit-oriented approach, organizations discipline and culture, well-developed structures, and more formality (Dion, 2012). These organizations can be owned either privately or publicly.

Keys to Success in Developing a Stage III Organization and the Critical Challenge to be Met in Transiting from an Entrepreneurship to a Professionally Managed Organization

Organizations in stage III signify a professional administration stage which is not similar to the entrepreneurship phase. Keys to success for stage III organizations differ with the necessary keys for stage I and II organizations (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012). First, planning in stage III businesses is a culture unlike in stage I whereby the entrepreneurs control the plans. The other thing is that incomes are strategic rather than being residual since they comprise of official organization principles. Lastly, accounting rotates around supervision by ethics and variances unlike in the entrepreneurship stages. Management in these organizations is consultative, participative, and clearly defined by culture while in the entrepreneurial organizations, it is loosely defined (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012). Therefore, the development of stage III organizations needs certain modifications like a mission statement, corporate culture, responsibility, role definition, objectives and goals, and planning. Whereas planning needs the development of yearly strategic business plans, the objectives and goals of the organization need to be generated for the whole company including the personnel (Flamholtz & Randle, 2012). The most critical challenge which needs to be faced when an organization intends to move to a professionally managed organization from an entrepreneurship one is the prerequisite for higher management of the overall processes in the financial, employment, infrastructure, and marketing sectors (Flamholtz & Kurland, 2005).

Conclusion

Concludingly, it is evident that long-term actions create the awareness and recognition of products and continue to generate positive outcomes for a company for longer periods. With the lack of long-term plans, short-term achievements can be transitory. A change in style of management is a calculated risk which may lead to uncertainty and stress. The spirit of entrepreneurship lives on in a professionally managed organization. On most occasions, it is the entrepreneurial spirit that pushes for the need of transitions for organizational development.

References

Dion, H. (2012). Is Your Company an Entrepreneurially Managed Organization or a Professionally Managed Organization? Retrieved 11 May 2018, from https://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Your-Company-an-Entrepreneurially-Managed-Organization-or-a-Professionally-Managed-Organization?&id=7028659

Flamholtz, E. G., & Kurland, S. (2005). Strategic organizational development, infrastructure, and financial performance: An empirical investigation. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Education, 3(1-3), 117-141.

Flamholtz, E. G., & Randle, Y. (2012). Growing pains: Transitioning from an entrepreneurship to a professionally managed firm. John Wiley & Sons.