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individuals need to understand their goals and objectives as they prepare budgets for their own<br />

activities.<br />

Realistic Plan<br />

Budgeting is not wishful thinking; rather it is a process designed to optimize the use of scarce<br />

resources in accordance with the goals of the company. Many firms have budget plans that call for<br />

sales growth, higher profits, and improved market share. To be effective, however, such plans must be<br />

based on specific executable plans, and on available resources and management talent that the<br />

company can bring to bear in accomplishing the budget plan. If the management of a firm wants to<br />

improve its level of operations, there must be a clearly defined path between the two points that the<br />

firm is able to travel.<br />

The process begins with an analysis of the market and preparation of a strengths, weaknesses,<br />

opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. Utilizing this background information, the company<br />

develops its overall strategy, together with the operational tactics required to achieve it. The financial<br />

impact of this strategy is then assessed in the preparation of the budget. If the financial results are<br />

unfavorable, strategies and tactics must be revisited until an acceptable outcome is achieved. Once the<br />

budget is finalized, strategies are implemented and the company‟s operations are subsequently<br />

monitored throughout the year in the control phase, as discussed later. Exhibit 11.1 presents an<br />

iterative model that embodies these concepts.<br />

Participative Budgeting<br />

The concept of building budgets up from the bottom with the input from all employees and managers<br />

affected by the budget is called participative budgeting. Most behavioral experts believe that<br />

individuals work harder to achieve objectives that they have played a part in creating. Applied to<br />

budgeting, this concept states that employees will strive harder to achieve performance levels defined<br />

by budgets if they have had a role in creating the budget. By contrast, budgets imposed by top-level<br />

management may get little support from employees.<br />

Exhibit 11.1 Comprehensive budgeting process.

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