INTERACTIVE PLANNING: A Systems Approach Advanced by Russell Ac o!!

" In: #$ C$ %ac son" &''("

The content in which interactive planning is being discussed is an organizational system and its management. Management science in general and its tool, OR in particular, concerned mainly with mathematical models, lost touch with the actual problem facing managers. The concept of adapting and learning in the context of complex situations are no more points of emphasis.

Interact)ve Plann)n*
The traditional view that objectivity comes from building value free models that are verified or falsified against some standards is misleading .Objectivity in the social systems concept can only be attained through the participation of sta!eholders with varying values. "lanning and design must be based on broad participation and involvement of sta!eholders. #ny improvement must be based on the sta!eholder$s criteria .Their ideals and values must prevail in the planning process. The analyst$s role must be one of support and facilitation. Today$s organizations must be viewed as social systems serving three purposes, namely their own %control problem&, those of their parts %humanization problem& and those of the wider system %environmetalization problem& of which they are part. Managers ought to serve purposes at all the three levels, developing their organization$s various sta!eholders and removing any possible conflicts between them. This way, internal and external sta!eholders will continue to pursue their interests through the organization !eeping it viable in the process. The new approach to planning in this systems age is interactive planning and addresses well the three purposes indicated above. Three other ideal types of planning that #c!off come up with are %i& re activist, %ii& in activist and %iii& pre activist. Re activist planners treat problems piecemeal and fail to recognize current realities in which problems are interdependent. 'n activist planners see! to !eep things in their existing state. They also treat problems separately. "re activists are future oriented and predict what is going to happen in order for them to prepare for it. They intend to optimize on the basis of forecasting techni(ues and (uantitative models. 'nter activists do not go bac! to the past, !eep things as they are or accept some inevitable future. They consider the past, the present and predictions about the future, use these only as partial inputs into a methodology of planning aimed at designing a desirable future and creating ways of ma!ing it happen. 'nter activists believe that the future can be influenced by what sta!eholders of an organization do now.

o The role of the systems analyst is not to build mathematical models for decision ma!ers to predict and prepare their enterprise for the future anymore, but to assist all sta!eholders to develop a desirable future and establish the means of realizing it. )

#ethodolo*y
There are three supporting principles to the methodology* Participative principle* #ll sta!eholders participate at all stages of the planning process and this guarantees +objectivity,. Through participation sta!eholders understand the roles they should play. The role of the professional planner is not to plan but to help sta!eholders plan for themselves. Continuity principle* -ince values change and unforeseen events happen, plans need to be constantly updated. Holistic principle* The significance of interaction between the components of a system compels us to simultaneously and interdependently plan for as many components and levels of the organization as possible.

Phases o! )nteract)ve plann)n*:

Formulating the mess,* This involves determining the future of an organization if it were to continue in its current plans, policies and practices and if its environment changes only as expected. The three studies for this are the following* o -ystem analysis i.e. detailed picture of the organization, its -ta!eholders, what it does and relationship with its environment. o Obstruction analysis* -etting out any obstacles to enterprise development. o Reference projections* .xtrapolating on the enterprise$s present performance if nothing is done and the environment continues to be predictable. -ynthesizing the results in the +mess, that the enterprise presently finds itself in and shows the sign of self destruction. Ends planning: This is about where to go and deals with specifying the purposes to bee pursued in terms of ideals, objectives and goals. 't involves five steps* o Mission statement* "lanners should help sta!eholders to prepare a comprehensive list of the desired properties to be built into the system. o Idealized design of the organization. o Developing the closest approximation to the design. o Identifying the gap between the two designs The idealized system design must be technologically feasible, operationally viable %operating and surviving& and capable of being continually improved. Covera*e o! an )deal)+ed plann)n*: o "roducts and services to be offered /

o o o o o o

Mar!ets to be served 0istribution system Organizational structure 'nternal financial structure Management style 'nternal functions including* Purchasing buildings and grounds internal and external communications maintenance engineering R&D mar eting and sales finance accounting

human resources manufacturing legal planning organization and development computing and data processing

o #dministrative services o 1acilities o 'ndustry, government and community affairs The remaining phases of interactive planning deal with realizing the idealized design and closing the gap identified in the final step of that process. #eans plann)n*: 't deals with how to get there. "olicies and procedures are established and examined to see their capability to close the gap between the desired future and the idealized design reference. 2ere, creativity is imperative. #lternative means must be analysed. Resource planning with what is needed, how much for each, when and how to be obtained. o o o o o Money "lant and e(uipment %capital goods& "eople Materials, supplies, energy and services %consumables& 0ata, information, !nowledge, understanding and wisdom

Implementat)on and control* This is about doing and learning from what happens. "rocedures are established and monitoring carried out.

#ethods !or Support)n* Interact)ve Plann)n*

0emocratic hierarchy or circular organization* Managers must focus more on interactions of the parts than on controlling the parts. This is about participation by all sta!eholders.

4earning and adaptation of support system* 5onstructing the +ideal see!ing system, o 'dentification and formulation of threats, opportunities and problems. o 0ecision ma!ing6what to do. o 'mplementation. o 5ontrol6monitoring and modifying actions. o #c(uisition or generation and distribution of necessary information. The system is built on a system of feedbac! control. 'nternal mar!et economy* .very unit in the organization must be a cost and a profit centre. This implies purchasing goods and services from internal and external suppliers and selling its outputs to any buyers.

A #ult)d)mens)onal ,r*an)+at)onal Structure !or -le.)b)l)ty and !or #)n)m)+)n* the Need !or Restructur)n*:
1unctionally defined units whose output is internally consumed. "roduction or service units whose output is for external consumption. Mar!et or user defined units set up by type or location of customers.

Restructuring is carried out when the relative importance of the three ways of dividing labour changes and the system adjusts the level in the hierarchy at which different types of unit are manifested. According to Ackoff, approaches like quality management, usiness process re! engineering and the alanced scorecard are likely to fail ecause they are anti! systemic: "hey treat the #hole as an aggregation of parts that can e improved independently of one another$ %n systems thinking, this does not often ring any improvement in the performance of the #hole ecause it is the interactions et#een the parts that are important and need managing$
CRITICIS# ,- T/E INTERACTIVE PLANNING ,R S0STE# APPR,AC/

"he systemic approach to planning has its orientation to#ards consensus$ %t assumes that there is a asic community of interest among stakeholders to e #illing to enter into interactive planning and to participate freely and openly in an ideali&ed design$ %t assumes that there are no fundamental conflicts of interest #ithin a system, a #ider system and su systems$ "here are arriers to full and effective participation$ "he po#erful may not e #illing if they feel they #ill lose influence$ Also, all stakeholders may not participate equally$ "he approach underestimates several irreconcila le conflicts$
7

 "here are po#ers and dominations that distort social systems$