Problem Statement

Describe about the concept of corporate planning and growth are complementary to each other.

The concept of corporate planning and growth are complementary to each other. These are the prime concerns of a company and often are associated with a series of methodologies and strategies required for the successful execution of a business model. These concepts when developed and implemented properly can enhance the performance and productivity of a company, and also help the company in generating profits in near future (Abadi & Nematizadeh, 2012).

The business type matters a lot when it comes to frame the organizational growth structure. The performance of an organization depends heavily on the strategies opted for its functioning, which requires thorough planning and is governed by factors like the structure of the organization, its activity and the objective of the organization.

Corporate planning requires a dynamic approach therefore; it largely depends on inclusions, modifications and inclinations towards changes as per the circumstances (AMSDEN & HIKINO, 2014). Corporate planning process is a continual process and a single change might alter the entire infrastructure of the organization. Business models and the overall organizational structure rely heavily on corporate planning and thus, it is considered to be a crucial activity in the development of a business.

The primary aim of this research is to comprehend the complex nature of corporate planning and the catalytic effect it has on the growth of the organization.

The objectives of this research are focused to determine the interrelationship between the aspects of corporate planning and the effect it has in the organizational growth by means of assessing various methodologies, which assure a positive impact on the growth and further development of the organization (Aspara, Lamberg, Laukia, & Tikkanen, 2013). Furthermore, the objective of the research is to answer the following questions:

• What is the importance of corporate planning?
• How corporate planning is associated with the growth of Company?
• What are the essential methodologies or activities the company requires to incorporate in its corporate planning in order to make it growth oriented?
• Is the financial plan or budget or the expenditure estimation logical?

The purpose of this research was to observe the essentiality, nature and scope of corporate planning on the growth and development of an organization. This study report will ensure the fundamental requirements of methodological performances of corporate planning and its significance in organizational growth. Revelations from this short highlighted study will make individual worth enough to occupy knowledge and advantages that manipulate organizational development. There are several parameters involved in the development of an organization which is strictly considered in corporate planning such as cost, location, market, consumers, technology, globalization etc.  Furthermore, an in-depth analysis has been included and segregated into segments that will help in understanding the various stages and elements of corporate planning and the effect corporate planning has on the growth and development of the organization.

Research Objectives/Questions

As per the observations made on the business type the following outcomes can be expected:

• Prospects of the company on managing its administrative affairs.
• Strategies for the organization to follow as to bring out maximum utilization of its resources.
• Recommendations on products and their commercialization.
• Recommending ways through which the company might make use of its database.
• Recommendations on incorporating special teams to carry out the operations.
• Recommendations on Communication systems.
• Recommendations on Operational jobs and recruitment.

The entire research will be based on hypothetical statements inclining towards a Corporate Plan in general an organization requires. This corporate plan proposal rests its base upon analysis performed on various Industries will help the organization in understanding the various features and methodologies that affect a corporate plan and aid them in planning accordingly.

When it comes to corporate planning it is very essential to have a very clear conceptual for the firm for the firm. Having a vision for the future and where the management sees the organization in the years to come is necessary to evaluate before commencing. Since, it is necessary to have a goal having a clear conception on the things that are required to achieve the set goal is essential.

Having a clear conception will lead the management to decide on the goal first, and then they will be able to plan the necessary objectives that will lead them towards the goal upon accomplishment. For instance, if the company the company has incorporated an overseas business venture in its corporate planning then it means that the company has a vision of expanding their business prospects in the overseas market. This is the chief necessity of having a vision set prior to starting a corporate plan. This vision for corporate planning might include the following:

• Corporate level planning: this phase requires a planning the resource allocation, drafting of strategic and corporate objectives, the domain in which the organization is about to operate, distinguishing the market patterns worldwide.
• Concern planning: planning for the exclusive needs of the consumers, and the technology that will be required.
• Resource planning: largely concerns about the allocation of resources in the various production segment.
• Unit planning: planning the management of the; internal business units, competitors, external markets, and cost structure.
• Product planning: this involves planning of product, its types, services, sales, and price.

There are various levels of corporate planning that relies on the business diversity of any organization, its basic structure and the interrelationship that structure and strategy share. In this section a few of these methodologies are presented:

• Revising the business plan:

The organization does not need to be a leading corporate body in order to revise the business strategies they have opted for the growth of their organization. As a matter of fact, the modest the organization is in regards as a business; the easier it is for them to alter their business plans and strategies from time to time (Bhambri & Sinatra, 2007). Organizations should from time to time assess and review their business plans which includes the acknowledging the weaknesses that the company has in its infrastructure, evaluating the potency of the organization and the market plans the organization has devised with the aim to promote their entrepreneurial endeavors.

For instance, if the organization is primarily focusing on sales, they should evaluate the cost and the efficacy the products will have if the products are promoted online. In addition if the company is involved in online sales then they should give direct marketing a try. These decisions can only be made if the organization revises its business plans from time to time (Bowman, 2008). This will not only help the said organization to evaluate and assess the current infrastructure of the company but also will help develop a better framework for their subsequent plans.

• Incorporation and development of new products and services:

Justification of the Project

Products and services that the organization is dealing with need to be assessed from time to time. Consumers at present are more whimsical than the before, their tastes and preferences tend to change with each passing days. Furthermore, with the globalization in the market worldwide, new products from various companies are coming into contact. Consumers these days have more choices especially when it comes to purchase a certain product or avail a certain services (Burack, 2006).

Therefore, the company looking forward to incorporate a corporate plan oriented towards the growth and development of the organization does definitely require keeping a track on their products and services. This will help the business in staying in touch with the market demands and the way the products of other company are faring (Clarke & Yuxing, 2008). Making an assessment of these would help them in deciding whether to incorporate new products and services for the consumers, if yes, then they would certainly have a perception on the type of product they will creating. In addition, they will also have this perception on whether the product will be a success in the market or not.

• Assessing existing database:

It is unwise to assume that the current database is not required in a new corporate plan. It does not matter whether the previous corporate plans and strategy were fruitless or not. Previous databases help in acknowledging the previous mistakes and ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated in planning the new strategies. Furthermore, there might few things in this database which might be useful with a few alterations and amendments made to it (Colley, 2007).

If the organization primarily focuses on the sales of its products and services then they should review their existing customer database. This will require them to get in touch with their customers and this in return would help them broaden their perspective on the market demands. Customers are valuable and cost effective source of obtaining vision for corporate planning, especially in businesses where sales of products and services are rudimentary activities.

• Vision for the firm:

When it comes to corporate planning it is very essential to have a very clear vision for the firm. Having a vision for the future and where the management sees the organization in the years to is necessary to evaluate before commencing. Since, it is necessary to have a goal having a clear conception on the things that are required to achieve the set goal is essential.

Expected Research Output/Outcome

Having a clear conception will lead the management to decide on the goal first, and then they will be able to plan the necessary objectives that will lead them towards the goal upon accomplishment (“Going for Growth: A guide to corporate strategy”, 2008). For instance, if the company the company has incorporated an overseas business venture in its corporate planning then it means that the company has a vision of expanding their business prospects in the overseas market. This is the chief necessity of having a vision set prior to starting a corporate plan. This vision for corporate planning might include the following:

• Corporate level planning: this phase requires a planning the resource allocation, drafting of strategic and corporate objectives, the domain in which the organization is about to operate, distinguishing the market patterns worldwide (Harris, 2009).
• Concern planning: planning for the exclusive needs of the consumers, and the technology that will be required.
• Resource planning: largely concerns about the allocation of resources in the various production segment.
• Unit planning: planning the management of the; internal business units, competitors, external markets, and cost structure (Hiriyappa, 2009).
• Product planning: this involves planning of product, its types, services, sales, and price.

• Strategic Goals:

An essential feature of the corporate planning is to design strategic goals for it. The strategic goals are the analysis on the business endeavor and reflect the risk factors along with the success factors.

1. Scanning the market for the business

The objective of scanning the market for business is to analyze the factors that will be affecting the business prospects. Economy is one of the prime features which require to be scanned first. This is the most concerning for the business growth as, the strong the economy is the strong prospects the business has in the economy for being successful (“Information resources and corporate growth”, 2009). Other factors include; rates of interests, unemployment, and inflation, foreign exchange rates in case of overseas business, disposable income, and evaluating the business of the rivals in the given market.

1. Capital Investment

A plan needs to be specially designed that will specifically deal with the capital investments and the credit challenges associated with it. Present day’s credit crisis is a result of the bad lending practices, and makes it very difficult for the managements and owners to invest capital in. However, an investor with good experience and having deep resources to support new ventures will be able to combat the credit storms in a better way (Knapp & Oliver, 2008). Furthermore, when the organization has a potent prospect it is able to draw capital investors to it involuntarily.

• Incorporation of Information and technology:

Based on the products that the company wishes to bring to its customers and the way the company wishes to bring the products to the customers, the company will certainly need to analyze and plan the software and hardware they will be enlisting in their organization. The purpose of this section is to provide an emphasis on the company’s approach towards its production and services procedures (Manzini, 2008). This vital as the company requires to have prior plans before incorporating an new segment or altering or expanding an existing one.

Conceptual Framework and Research Hypothesis

If the organization already has high demand in its market and is merely looking forward to chalk out a corporate plan to expand its limitations then, the company will certainly need to assess the market demands, the supply chain, and the cost of the new machinery it is going incorporate in. For, the organization should also assess the cost that they will be incurring upon the new additions and whether these costs will be recovered from the overall sales.

Furthermore, the company has to keep it mind the production costs and the cost of additional materials for the production procedure that they are incurring with expansion of the production facility (MARGERISON, 2008). This is indispensable as without proper planning, cost evaluation and market assessment, without proper analysis the step might result to be disastrous.

Now, if the company is planning on launching an online business segment they need to plan on the software they will be using on developing the website. The software that will be used to develop will greatly affect the platform from where the online business will be operated. Apart from this the human resources cost will also need to be estimated (Mendelow, 2013). If the company is providing delivery services by means of hiring some other concern then the company has to keep in track the additional cost being incurred on the endeavor. If the organization specializes in any sort of IT based products then they will require specialized software for the development of their products and extending their services.

• Time management and Human resources:

This section focuses on the need of efficient management of time and the human resources required for carrying out this activity. It is essential to have a time framework for the objectives and goals that are included in the corporate planning and it is also vital to entrust the set objectives and goals to the right employees in order to get the job done.

Corporate planning requires having a clear conception regarding the management of time. The organization certainly does not have eternity neither do its consumers (Nemati & Barko, 2014). Therefore, efficient management time will certainly help in building customer relationship and a quality name for the organization. This can be done by analyzing the time that the employees are taking between their activities. If this time taken by the employees is shortened then they would be able to invest a significant amount of time in their activities.

Methodologies

Another significant aspect of time management is that accomplishing the set targets within the time stipulated will affect the company in an overall aspect. For instance, the growth that the company has envisioned will be achievable in due course of time, which is set accordingly with the human resources and the market analysis that the company has already made. In this planning the company certainly has taken the liberty to stipulate certain amount of time for certain activities (Roberts, 2007). Now, what the management actually needs to do is to plan or incorporate strategies that will help in accomplishing the set targets within the stipulated time framework.

Another important aspect that is complementary to the proper utilization of time is the incorporation of talented human resources. Talented employees are the key that unlocks the doors of success for any business. This is not only because of the fact that talented employs are capable of carrying out the process in the manner they are supposed to but also they are able to do that within the time frame stipulated for that particular purpose.

• Specialized teams:

The management needs to assign teams for the decision making process and teams that will analyze the hazards and risk factors which are by-results of some process and eliminate such hindrances. In this section an analysis on the organizations need for specialized teams are discussed which include and prioritize decision making criteria;

1. Decision making team

The purpose of the decision making team is to come with decision that will be affecting the outcome of the processes. The decision making team is usually tasked with the making of choices out of various other options. These choices have their individual exposure to the growth and development of the company (Sanchez & Heene, 2005). Furthermore, each of the choices has exclusive results when carried out. This is the decision that the decision making team needs to take. The choices they make in their decision will be carried out in the organizational activities and depending on the nature of the choice made the nature of the process will vary.

Another aspect of the decision making team is that the entire operations of the company depends on the choices they make. In addition, the growth and development of the company depends on the choices that the decision making team opts. Therefore, making it the most crucial job in the organization as, large part of the organizations fates depend on the choices the decision making team makes.

In matters relating to the products and their production there will be industrial hazards and the organization will require specialized teams that will effectively remove the hazards from the environment. In industries concentrated on building complex goods and products, hazardous materials tend to be a by-product of the production procedure (Sandra & Birley, 2007).

These hazardous materials tend to be harmful for the employees and might result in creating health issues, which might in turn lead the company to face severe consequences. Therefore, if the organization is engaged in the production of complex goods which have some hazardous materials as its by-product then it is essential to incorporate a team of specialized individuals who would be able to safely and securely dispose of the hazard without causing any further harm to the environment.

1. Industrial Hazards/Waste Removal Team

In matters relating to the products and their production there will be industrial hazards and the organization will require specialized teams that will effectively remove the hazards from the environment. In industries concentrated on building complex goods and products, hazardous materials tend to be a by-product of the production procedure.

These hazardous materials tend to be harmful for the employees and might result in creating health issues, which might in turn lead the company to face severe consequences. Therefore, if the organization is engaged in the production of complex goods which have some hazardous materials as its by-product then it is essential to incorporate a team of specialized individuals who would be able to safely and securely dispose of the hazard without causing any further harm to the environment.

1. Communicating system and hospitality planning:

An all inclusive corporate planning requires use of proper, convenient and cost effective means communication systems. Communications play an effective role in the role in the present day’s trade and commerce. In order to properly emphasize the need for proper communication system the following instance has been provided:

The corporate plan is oriented towards an overseas business initiative. In this scenario communication is essential as it would not be possible for the management to be present there and provide their insight on the day to day activities (Vandermerwe & Birley, 2007). To serve this purpose it is necessary for the management to incorporate communication system that will be cost effective so that the company might be able to prevent a large amount of expenses.

Furthermore, effective communication helps maintain the day to day activities in the organization itself. Employees can stay connected to each other and the management by means of incorporating affordable intranet communication services. Moreover, affordable communication system will help the company to stay in touch with the customers and associates which in turn would strengthen the business structure.

Hospitality planning is also an important aspect and has to be incorporated in the corporate planning. In this present day trade and commerce business associations with other organizations will help in widening the prospect of the organization. These associations will require meetings and conferences which in turn will require hospitality planning (Venu, 2014). Much of the impression that the organization will create in the very first business meetings with other associates will depend on the hospitality that the company is offering. However, it is essential to keep a track on the cost that the company is incurring on the hospitality. Since, the company already has a set framework on the financial budget; the company should not consider extravagant expenses on hospitality regardless of the importance of the conference or meeting.

1. Operational jobs and Recruitment:

The corporate planning must and indispensably include the operations that it will be carrying out over the course of its plan. The operational jobs enlisted for the operations should be allotted accordingly. Depending on the number of operations the company has enlisted in corporate plan the company is required to set them in an orderly fashion e.g. primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary level of operations is given the topmost priority if the organization’s primary operations are the foremost concern. In this manner each of the three levels should be prioritized depending on the phase the organization is traversing with the passage of time. This should also be included in corporate planning and be considered to be top priority (“Information resources and corporate growth”, 2009).

Recruitment is another essential as with the lack of proper human resources the organization’s operations will come to a halt. Furthermore, recruitment should be precise as to the amount of employees the company will be requiring based on each of the sectors and segments (Colley, 2007). Corporate planning should include levels of recruitment that the company will require with each accomplishment and each progress that the company makes. This will provide the recruiters and the management with a clear apprehension regarding the recruitment procedures and requirement.

The organization of the study is as follows:

• Chapter 1: the first chapter is the introductory part, and deals with the purpose of this research
• Chapter 2: the second chapter deals with the problem statement i.e. the matter the research is concerned for.
• Chapter 3: the third chapter is concerned with research objectives/ questions.
• Chapter 4: this chapter deals with justification of the project.
• Chapter 5: the chapter provides a conceptual framework and research hypothesis.
• Chapter 6: deals with the expected research output or outcome.
• Chapter 7: this chapter incorporates the methodologies prescribed for the activity.

The following is the Corporate Plan analysis as based on the corporate plan:

The predetermined cost shall not exceed the budget. It has been thoroughly analyzed and planned accordingly to meet the financial limitations. As per the analysis and plan, all sorts of logical expenses are covered and there is less chance exceeding the budget in terms of logical costs. The financial plan drafted by the analysts is realistic as per the given market and are in no terms unrealistic or inconvenient in any nature.

Conclusion

The purpose of this research was to observe the essentiality, nature and scope of corporate planning on the growth and development of an organization. This study report will ensure the fundamental requirements of methodological performances of corporate planning and its significance in organizational growth. Revelations from this short highlighted study will make individual worth enough to occupy knowledge and advantages that manipulate organizational development (Bowman, 2008). There are several parameters involved in the development of an organization which is strictly considered in corporate planning such as cost, location, market, consumers, technology, globalization etc.  Furthermore, an in-depth analysis has been included and segregated into segments that will help in understanding the various stages and elements of corporate planning and the effect corporate planning has on the growth and development of the organization.

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