Management Planning And Ethics

Bateman and Snell (2003) state that "planning is the conscious, systematic process of making decisions about goals and activities that an individual, group, work unit, or organization will pursue in the future" (Planning and strategic management, p. 108). There are several levels in the planning process. Strategic planning involves setting long-term goals and is a function traditionally employed by top-level management. Newer models of strategic planning tend to involve all levels of management. Examples for strategic planning include profitability and productivity. Tactical planning is carried out by mid-level management and focuses on the required actions to achieve the strategic goals. At this point, the planning process is divided into smaller parts which are important to a certain department or functional area of the company. The process shifts to a short-term approach. Operational planning is carried out by frontline managers and includes routine tasks, such as human resources requirements. According to Bateman and Snell (2004) these three stages of planning have to be linked to form a cohesive unit. A fairly recent approach to accomplishing this is called "Strategic Management". In strategic management all levels of management play a part in the design and implementation of strategic goals. This involves the creation of a vision, a mission, and long-term goals. An analysis of external opportunities and threats and internal strengths and weaknesses is conducted, which leads to the SWOT analysis in which all factors are taken into account and a detailed plan is derived. Several factors play a role in determining the planning process in a company. Some of these factors in my organization include legal issues, ethics and corporate social responsibility.

In my organization specifically the planning stage starts when a client is considering the company for a translation or localization project. The manager of the department makes a decision whether or not the department is equipped to handle this type of project. She runs an estimate to get an initial idea about the word count and time requirements involved. She ensures that resources are available and proposes a preliminary schedule. This involves decisions such as whether a project should be worked on in-house or by a freelance translator and establishing which memory materials and glossaries can be used. These tasks are part of the operational planning process of a frontline manager.

One factor, which influences the planning process, is legal issues. Linguists and translators alike are required to be native speakers of the language into which they are translating materials. Certain legal immigration issues can arise because of this. Some freelance translators work in their native countries, which can create difficulties in organizing a payment system and gathering all necessary legal documents. Some linguists may not have permission to work in the United States at the time of hire and may not be familiar with an American corporate environment. The company sponsors certain individuals' work visas and has to be sure to maintain legal paperwork with immigration authorities in the US as well as some foreign countries. Furthermore, the job descriptions of those individuals need to reflect the need to hire a non-citizen. Employees need to take days off to go to an immigration office or even back to their native country to deal with some of these issues. Schedules established by the manager are directly dependent upon the human resources availability and are affected by the aforementioned legal complications.

Bateman and Snell (2004) point out, that ethics, another factor that can influence planning in an organization, are usually dictated by society. However when speaking about a corporate environment, ethics are also affected by the company culture. In any company an ethics code should be established in order to establish ethical guidelines. The ethics code should be specifically designed for the company's needs and most often addresses issues such as employee conduct, customer relations, technology, and community or environment. When applied well, it can be a powerful tool in improving a company's ethical climate. Ethics programs provide guidance in addition to the ethics code. They are responsible for implementing the guidelines that were established. This can include ethics training, development of policies, investigation of violations and allegations, and disciplinary