Philip Walcoff - "The Fast Forward MBA in Business Planning for ...

Philip Walcoff - "The Fast Forward MBA in Business Planning for Growth"Page 57Chapter 5—Companywide Issues and Appropriate Response OptionsAfter defining your function-specific issues and responses in the previous chapter, this chapter supportsthe definition and resolution of your companywide issues. The five companywide issue categories arethe following:1. Communications2. Culture3. Systems and processes4. Planning5. ResourcesThe major issues in each of the five companywide categories are identified based on an analysis of the20 sample companies. Again, examples of issues facing the 20 sample companies, along with suggestedissue-resolution approaches, are presented to support you in identifying and dealing with your owncompanywide issues by completing the exercises. The relative frequency of these companywide issuesis also presented to give you a sense of the prevalence of each issue across the 20 sample companies.Page 58Communications Issues and Response OptionsThe communications issue category has the largest number of issues in the companywide arena. Asshown in Figure 5.1, 7 major communications issues were raised by the 20 sample companies. Theseissues ranged in frequency from 80 percent (16 companies raised the issue) to 35 percent (7 companiesraised the issue); the hottest issue was communications gaps between major elements of the company.A brief statement of these seven issues follows:1. Communications gaps (80 percent). "There are communication gaps between major elements of ourcompany—between line organizations, between staff organizations, and between the line and staff."file:///C|/Documents and Settings/gasanova/Local Settin...Forward_MBA_in_Business_Planning_for_Growth/e-book.html (72 of 219)16.02.2005 13:54:23