Knutsford Express: Strategic Plan

Question 1

Oliver Townsend, Principal of Knutsford Express, was of the opinion that by modernizing their fleets, their efficiency had gone up tremendously. Elaborate on how management effectiveness is related to management efficiency, in terms of goals and resources.

Answer

According to Modern Management Concepts and Skills by S Cato, Managerial effectiveness is the management 's use of organizational resources in meeting the organizational goals. Management effectiveness is the ability to complete projects or takings in the shortest possible time using the available resources. In an effort to respond to the growing demand island-wide for a comfortable and affordable transportation service, the company acquired the South Coast route as it

Compare and contrast strategic and tactical planning. Indicate, which if either, do you think was more important to Knutsford? Justify your answer

Answer

Strategic planning is a long-range planning that focuses on the organization as a whole, while Tactical Planning is short –range planning that emphasizes the current operations of various parts of the organization. Tactical planning should focus on what to do in the short term to help the organization achieve the long-term objectives determined by strategic planning.

It is to be noted that both strategic and tactical planning focuses on the organization, however, they differ in that strategic planning is long term and focuses on the entire organization while tactical planning is short term and focuses on different aspects of the organization.

Additionally, strategic planning is usually developed by upper management as they generally have a better understanding of the organization while lower level managers have better understanding of the organization 's day to day operations.

Strategic planning is generally less detailed than tactical planning as strategic planning is focused on prediction of the future, while tactical planning focuses on the known

The Knutsford Express Company should utilize both tactical and strategic planning. This is recommended as the company needs to plan for its short-term operation. The transportation sector is a diverse sector that gets increase competitors on a daily basis, and as such, tactical planning is needed to monitor its day to day operation, such as serviceability of vehicles, customer service, cash inflows and activities of competitors. Additionally, tactical planning focuses on known circumstances, and the Knutsford Express needs to access and reassess its circumstances on a daily basis and any changes in legislation to remain viable in the transportation sector. The decision to acquire a new bus instead of the fleet for South Coast Express was a demonstration of tactical planning, as they focused on known circumstances, such as a new bus to service that route, instead of an older bus that may need maintenance, and did not fit the profile of the Knutsford Express