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1.     Planning is the process of determining objectives and assessing the way those objectives
      can best be achieved.

2.     Planning gives direction, reduces the impact of change, minimizes waste and redundancy,
      and sets the standards to facilitate controlling.

3.     Planning is not without its critics.   Some of the more noted criticisms of planning are:  
      It may create rigidity; plans cannot be developed for a dynamic environment; formal plans
      cannot replace intuition and creativity; planning focuses managers’ attention on today’s
      competition, not on tomorrow’s survival; and because formal planning reinforces success,
        it may lead to failure.

4.     Strategic plans cover an extensive time period (usually five or more years), encompass broad
        issues, and include the formulation of objectives.   Tactical plans cover shorter periods of
        time, focus on specifics, and assume that objectives are already known.

5.     Directional plans are preferred over specific plans when managers face uncertainty in their
      environments and desire to maintain flexibility in order to respond to any unexpected
      changes.

6.     Management by objectives (MBO) is a system in which specific performance objectives
      are jointly determined by employees and their bosses; progress toward objectives is
      periodically reviewed, and rewards are allocated on the basis of the progress.  
      The four ingredients common to MBO programs are goal specificity, participative
        decision making, explicit time periods, and performance feedback.

7.     The strategic management process is made up of nine steps:  
      (1)   identify the organization’s current mission, objectives, and strategies,
      (2)   analyze the environment,
      (3)   identify opportunities and threats in the environment,
      (4)   analyze the organization’s resources,
      (5)   identify the organization’s...