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Organizational Planning
For the last three decades predominant national economies have sought to find stability
and traction in a developing economic environment driven by the outworking effects of
globalization. Faced with increasing competition and vigorous market conditions, businesses are
looking to discover avenues for competitive advantage within organizational performance.
Although seemingly counterintuitive, advocates of strategic planning argue that organizational
investments in planning activities does well to not only raise awareness of current market
conditions, but also allows for organizations to mitigate the turbulence of unforeseen market
challenges and produce profitable outcomes (Mintzberg, 1994). Strategic planning can be
defined as a method of formulating and implementing long-term plans in a broad and flexible
manner in order to achieve the aspirations of the organization (Odame, 2007, p. 10). Prior to
the onslaught of international competition and near chaotic economic uncertainty, established
organizations focused strategic attention internally to boost means of efficiency, productivity, and
overall profitability; however, since the global diversification of the economic landscape,
organizations have redirected their strategic focus in order to more readily adapt to changing
market demands and conditions (Daft, 2013, p. 164).
In a business environment where crisis and unanticipated market conditions are routine,
strategic planning efforts greatly enrich an organizations capacity to succeed. In fact,
researchers recognize that the strategic planning process assists the members of an organization
to know where they are, where they are going and how to manage uncertainties in the business
environment, and further that it is the exercise of the steps of the process that creates a viable
link between a business mission, vision, goals, objectives, strategic choices, and resources

(Sandada et. al, 2014). Furthermore, it is instrumental for organizational leadership to recognize
that strategic planning should not be considered a cure-all means by which to cure market
fluctuations, but rather an exercise where planners scan environmental elements and analyze
potential moves and countermoves by other organizations (Daft, 2014, p.164).
Organizational Domain
Changing a business organizations domain is often a promising solution when dealing
with a threatening environment. A business domain is the territory an organization stakes out
for itself with respect to products, services, and markets served (Daft, 2014, p. 148). In an
effort to manage the external influence of the characters of a domain, Kottler argues that
although abandoning a domain outright should not be the initial reaction to an environmental
threat, there are circumstances where it can become necessary to abandon a domain when an
organization can no longer fiscally maintain a profitable position (1979). As Kottler indicated,
abandoning a domain is not the only option available to an organization when a business
environment becomes hostile. A company can look to resolve the circumstances through
political means, mergers and acquisitions, or illegitimate activities.
Posting losses near 5.4 billion dollars, Target Corporation announced on January 15, 2015
that it would be discontinuing all of its Canadian operations. The company currently has 133
stores and employs approximately 17, 600 employees in Canada (Target, 2015). According to
Phil Wahba, Targets retreat from the Canadian domain was spurred by; Targets purchase of
poorly conditioned-poorly located facilities that previously housed the now defunct discounter
Zellers, Targets failure to adequately supply the chain of Canadian retail stores, intense pricing
competition from Targets well established competitor-Walmart, and an apparent loss of overall
brand value in the eyes, of Canadian customers (2015). Reporting that the company would not

achieve profitability until 2021, Brian Cornell, Target Corporation Chairman and CEO, decided
to abandon the Canadian domain outright and return company focus to its growing operations in
the United States.
Management Fads-Theory Z & TQM
TQM (Total Quality Management) is a loosely bound collection of management
philosophy that came into American popularity after the US Navy sought to improve its
operational effectiveness. After terming the system Total Quality Management in 1985, use of
the management system spread throughout the federal government and into its private sector
counterparts. Inspired by influential Japanese systems, TQM sought to heighten organizational
efficiency and competitive response by being intentionally focused on; the customer, total
employee participation, processed thinking, horizontally integrated systems, strategic/systematic
perspectives, continual process improvement, big data, and a continual flow of interdepartmental
communications (Westcott, 2013, p. 291-292).
Theory Z is an Asian inspired management theory designed by Dr. William Ouchi in an
effort to respond to the Japanese economic influence of the early 1980s. The system, rooted in
the philosophy outlined in Ouchis book, Theory Z How American Business Can Meet the
Japanese Challenge; Theory Z looks to enhance the American managerial models through the
integration of Japanese techniques of efficiency. The system directed organizational leadership
to focus on; a leadership style with a high regard for employee professional capacities, workers
being generalists rather than specialists, heavy job rotation/training. The underlying strength of
the Theory is that it produces a life-long workforce that demonstrates high levels of loyalty and
in-depth personal connectivity (Ouchi, 1981). Theory Z was predominantly integrated into the
American automobile industry and other factory-production focused organizations.

Although Theory Z appears to be ardently employee minded, both TQM and Theory Z
are reactive systems of philosophy that were constructed to respond to previously unforeseen
changes in operational environments. In each case the fads were adopted by organizations in an
effort to address production inefficiencies and mounting fears of market irrelevancy. It appears
that the motives of organizations that did in fact adopt the fad were in fact based on true need vs.
business trends.
Although management system fads can often gain traction in their early days of
introduction, attempting to utilize untested leadership theory in difficult organizational
environments can sometimes cause unforeseen circumstances to occur. According to Bill
Creetch, a weakness of TQM was revealed when warden in the United Kingdom prison system
attempted to redesign his prison operations via TQM methodologies. The experiment ended up
as a complete failure, and after 11 riots, near 60% employee turnover, and negative public
reaction the prison was closed and the warden terminated from his employment (1994).
Transnational Model
Considering the foundational elements of learning, organizations where people
continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive
patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are
continually learning to see the whole together, in light of the transnational model, a large global
firm would greatly benefit by adopting the business philosophy of the transnational design
(Senge, 1999). The model can be considered beneficial for a multinational enterprise that looks
to utilize both local and global gains as well as technological advancements, rapid innovation,
and global learning and knowledge sharing(Daft, 2014, p. 247). Built on a fluid organizational

philosophy rather than a ridged mechanical structure, the transnational model looks to find
success through; an international dispersion of resources and assets, fluid/adaptive organizational
systems, a capacity for bottom up strategy adaption and innovation, and a unified cultural
symbiosis where diverse human resources are coordinated though shared organizational vision,
inclusion, and values (p. 249).
Biblical Worldview
Planning.
The concept of planning is central to the biblical theme. In fact, during a teaching on the
cost of discipleship Jesus proclaimed For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first
sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid
a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, This man began
to build and was not able to finish (Luke 14:2-30, ESV). Even more, Jesus continues in the
book of Luke to propose the question, Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war,
will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who
comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he
sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace (Luke 14:31-32). For Jesus, strategy, systems,
planning, and personal honesty are central to finding success in life. While historically it should
be recognized that Jesus was indeed discussing the need for the members of the crowd to
consider the cost of becoming His disciple, the theological principles transcend historical
Scripture and apply directly to questions of business planning. Just as the value of strategic
planning lies not in the plan itself, but in the participatory attention that the planning event
produces, so too does Christ find the value in planning in the exercise of deliberation or costcounting in itself.

Change & flexibility.

As the 29th chapter of the book of Jerimiah begins, the people of Israel had been removed
from their homeland en masse, and are living as aliens in Babylon. Confused, lost, hurt, and
rejected, Gods people were struggling to retain national/individual identity and purpose without
their foundational temple/sacrificial systems. In much of the same way, a great many American
businesses now find themselves operating in an environment of chaos, instability, and continual
change. The forces of globalization, hyper-international competition, and heightened consumer
demands have forced many established companies from the comfort and stability of their historic
market positions and into the arena of turbulence. Just as Godly wisdom was provided to the
Jewish people through the writings of Jerimiah, so too can the business organization glean
wisdom from the prophet. In Jerimiah 29:4-9, God instructs His people to embrace social
fluidity and to embrace the reality of their new domain. They are instructed to plant, to eat, to
marry, and to civically participate in their new environment. Considering the current business
environment, a biblical worldview would provide support and encouragement for a business to
abandon its previous domain and to confidently pursue new environments where it can prosper
and fulfil the mission of its organization.

References
Creech, B. (1994), The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work for
You, New York: Truman Talley Books/Dutton,
Daft,
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Mintzberg, H. (1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning. New York: The Free Press.
Odame, A. M. (2007). The relevance of strategic planning for entrepreneurial businesses in
South Africa. (Master of Business Administration dissertation). University of Pretoria.
Ouchi, William G. (1981). Theory Z. New York: Avon Books.
Sandada, M., Pooe, D., & Dhurup, M. (2014). Strategic planning and its relationship with
business performance among small and medium enterprises in south africa. The
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from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1525360857?accountid=12085
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Target Press Room. (2015). Target Corporation Announces Plans to Discontinue Canadian
Operations. Retrieved from http://pressroom.target.com/news/target-corporationannounces-plans-to-discontinue-canadian-operations
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