Business Planning

Syllabus

Thematic definition of lectures: 1. Introduction to planning – In the introductory lecture, we will provide students with information on the course and the requirements for passing the course. We continue by defining a plan and analyzing the different planning definitions. We discuss planning and its position in the management process, the purpose of planning, the positive and negative aspects of planning, the basic interconnection of plans in companies, and the different stages of the planning process. At the end of the lecture, we will point to modern trends affecting planning such as big data, databases and machine learning, business experiments, turbulent and unpredictable environments. 2. Goals, the system of plans, and organization of planning – We begin the lecture by defining and analyzing the definition of a goal. We continue to discuss the impact of the business environment on planning and goals. Then we follow with an explanation of the SMART criteria important for proper goal setting and how successful businesses set their goals according to the authors Collins and Porras. We present and give examples of goals in practice. The next topic of the lecture is to explain the stages of the process of goal setting and how the goals are divided. At the end of the lecture, we discuss the system of company plans and the integration of plans, planning procedures, and elements of the company planning system. 3. Strategic planning – We will start with the definition of strategic planning and strategic planning content. We explain the definition of strategy and the characteristics of the strategy, strategic success factors, the time horizon of the strategic plan, strategic planning at the enterprise level, and strategic planning at the business unit level. We define a strategic business unit. We present strategic planning tools, PIMS study, and application in strategic planning, place of the business plan in strategic planning, linking the business model with strategy and business plan. In the last part, we discuss the business opportunity and the search for it, strategic resources and capabilities, competitive advantage, sources of competitive advantage, and business model as a tool for linking individual business plans and the concept of the business itself. 4. Business Plan – We begin the lecture by defining the business plan and explaining its importance to the business. We continue with the structure and content of the business plan, business plan functions, criteria, and business plan requirements. Then the organizational aspects, the linkage of the business plan elements, the form, and presentation follow. We also discuss the advantages of the business plan, the details of the various parts of the business plan, such as the summary and its important position within the business plan, the description of the business, the business model, the identification of business opportunities, and resources needed, the analysis of the environment, the marketing plan, the production plan, the investment plan, the financial plan, and the critical risk factors. 5. Methods and techniques of planning – In this lecture, we start by discussing the importance of quality sources of information in planning and the consequence of their inappropriate selection. We continue with the presentation of fundamental divisions of methods into qualitative methods and quantitative methods, where we offer an overview of these methods. Next follows a detailed decomposition and explanation of the benchmarking method and its process. Summary planning methods, time series extrapolation, new planning methods, and planning techniques will be explained. At the end of the lecture, we discuss the planning tools suitable for use in the different subparts of the business plan. 6. Marketing Planning- At the beginning of the lecture, we define marketing and marketing planning. We continue by explaining the essential functions of marketing, defining and analyzing marketing strategy, linkage of business strategy, marketing strategy, and 4P marketing plan. The next point of the lecture is to explain the process of marketing planning, the types of marketing plans, and the methods and procedures in marketing planning. We will show students how to determine the product's market potential, and how the expected market share is determined. Finally, we will discuss how to obtain information about the market and the modern forms of marketing. 7. Production and production capacity planning, material and inventory purchase planning, and outsourcing — The lecture includes production plan, production plan content, and its place in the system of plans, the goal of the production plan, aggregated production plan, aggregated plan goal, bases and aggregated planning process, production assortment planning method, production capacity plan, production process planning, production resource planning, and quality planning. This is followed by disaggregated and operational production planning. After defining it, we discuss inventory management, just-in-time method, criteria, and inventory planning methods, such as the ABC method, minimizing the total cost of inventories. Finally, we discuss the management of stock and outsourcing. 8. Disaggregation of plans and operational planning – At the beginning, we introduce the issue of disaggregation and operational planning. We will cover the purpose of the disaggregation of plans and explain operational planning. We continue with the time horizon of operational plans. Another topic of this lecture is the production planning and monitoring and the presentation of specific software systems for planning and production monitoring. As long as a company does not use the above software solutions, it uses the classic methods that we explain in the section operational planning and budgeting, where we will mention the basic criteria for the creation of operational plans and operational planning methods. 9. Personnel planning – We start the lecture by defining the personnel plan and its place in the system of plans. We explain the goal of the personnel plan, the remuneration system, internal and external factors, the analysis of the human resources balance, short-term and long-term planning of the work, the human resources balance algorithm, and the factors affecting the need for workers are. We also look at methods of planning the needs of workers, short-term work planning and long-term work planning, the process of planning the needs of workers, and productivity planning. We will end the lecture with innovative work regimes and current research in the field of human resource planning. 10. Planning of investment projects and project plan- The lecture begins with defining and analyzing the definition of a project, definition, and analysis of the term investment. This is followed by discussing motivating factors that raise the need for investment projects in companies, aspects in investment planning, investment planning, and comparison of a business plan, project plan, and program. The next item is the discussion of elements characterizing the investment project, the process of creating the project plan, the investment planning algorithm, and the ways of thinking to solve complex tasks. We will also explain the structure of the project plan, feasibility study, investment financing, financial investments, acquisition advantages, methods of evaluating investments, and project revenue projection. 11. Financial Plan- We begin the lecture by explaining the importance of the financial plan and the place of the financial plan in the system of plans. We continue with the structure of the financial plan, the process of setting up the financial plan, the methods and models for the development of the financial plan, the long-term horizon in financial planning, and the short-term horizon in financial planning. In the next part of the lecture, we include budgeting the need for working capital, financing current assets, budgeting cash, budgeting trade credits, projecting the profit and loss statement, designing the balance sheet, projecting cash flow, and profit distribution plans. In the last block, we deal with limitations to financial projections, the creation of financial projections, sources of information for financial projections, approaches to financial projections, and the lecture is concluded by presenting frequent errors in the development of financial plans and a demonstration of how financial projections can be presented. 12. Monitoring and control in the planning – First, we define the monitoring in the lecture, and a definition analysis is performed. The next item is the discussion of the monitoring-planning relationship and what is the purpose of control, and what is being done with its results. The lecture continues by explaining the division and procedure of the monitoring process and by explaining the different approaches to determining the sequence of control steps. We are proceeding to monitor implementation in different functional plans, where we go through the various functional plans and discuss the appropriate indicators that are used for the monitoring. We continue with the methods of monitoring the plan, and in the end, we address the most common causes of deviations of reality from the plan. 13. Current topics in planning – During the last lecture, students’ work during the semester is evaluated, and the exam conditions will be overviewed. We continue with the presentation of our own current research results in the field of planning, complemented by new findings from research of global importance. Next, we will cover modern planning trends as well as different scenarios for future developments. Another item is interesting and creative solutions in business planning, including practical examples of elegant solutions to planning problems. Finally, a recap of the topics for the exam and the state exam follows, and the semester ends with a quiz. Thematic definition of exercises: 1. Introduction to planning – In the introductory seminar, instructors and students will introduce themself. Subsequently, the requirements for the completion of the course will be presented; information is provided on lectures, literature needed for the exam, and exercises. The links of the subject to the practice and the purpose of individual exercises and, therefore, the skills that students will acquire from the perspective of demand by businesses are also explained. Students will be informed about the guest's lecture from practice and about the different tools used during the semester to learn and communicate. Information about providing feedback and the channels students can use if they have a problem with calculating is also an important part of this seminar. The provided information also includes information about the midterm exam, assignments, and semester project, including its presentation. Then the topic of planning is being discussed. 2. Planning methods – The basic planning methods used throughout the semester will be practiced. These include extrapolation of the time series, where, based on the previous development of the planned indicator, its values are projected in the future. Techniques such as arithmetic gain, geometric gain, and index and least-squares method are practiced. Other practiced basic methods include smoothing, cyclicality, scenarios, and simulation. 3. Marketing planning – In marketing planning, we start with Brown’s exponential smoothing, which, for example, serves to smooth the volatility of planned data. This is followed by seasonality and possible seasonality application in the sales projection. We continue to practice forecasting sales of new products in relation to the sale of their predecessors. We conclude the seminar by practicing product mix creation, product pricing methods, and calculating the product's market potential, which is an essential part of the start-up business plan. 4. Cost aspects in planning – The seminar is dedicated to the contribution margin, the lower limit to the price, and the percentual variable contribution margin. These methods allow students to make rational decisions about production and product assortment composition. The calculation of break-even point, whether in euro or pieces, has a broad application in planning and is an essential part of the business plan. We continue with one of several examples of decision problems: whether to make or buy components for production. Finally, we present a method for estimating the fixed and variable cost, which is particularly relevant in strategic planning in competition analysis. 5. Production planning and planning the material needs – We begin the seminar with a classic quantitative method of inventory planning and modeling, where we calculate the optimal order quantity, minimizing the total cost of inventory, further calculating the frequency of order, calculating the total cost of inventory and calculating the price with the required level of return on cost. Furthermore, the method of aggregate production planning, ABC analysis, make or buy decision, securing the production capacity, and trial and error methods are practiced. 6. Personnel planning - During the seminar, we practice methods of planning the workforce needs. These methods include the standard person-hours method suitable for production with standard time consumption, the method of operating standards used in the case of manufacturing processes, and the method of the operated places, suitable mainly for calculating the need for service or auxiliary workers. We will end the exercise by practicing the method of labor productivity planning, namely the method of time-saving. 7. Complex case study – Students will first be divided into groups during the seminar. They will then receive a comprehensive assignment to practice the application of planning methods in a practical case. Students receive the specified target company and tasks to create specific plans using the methods practiced so far. Students will have to search and gather the data needed to apply these methods; others have to be derived with logical thinking and analogical argumentation. After solving the case study, the seminar follows up with a discussion and comparison of the results. 8. Investment planning and investment projects – The seminar is mainly dedicated to dynamic indicators of assessing investment benefits. The basic indicator that is practiced is the net present value. This indicator makes it possible to practice several aspects of investment decision-making, from the determination of quantitative characteristics, through economic evaluation to decide whether to accept the investment. Another method is the internal rate of return, which makes it possible to find the project's return rate, which can be used to compare investments or in the creation of a prospectus. 9. Midterm exam – Midterm exam lasts for the whole seminar. It aims to practice as many calculation problems as possible, support the individual work of students, and prepare them for the exam, as the formulation and the time available to calculate the problems proportionally correspond with the time available to them on the exam. The midterm exam is not scored, however, a minimal standard has to be reached. Another added value is the continuous monitoring and feedback on students' progress in comprehending the course material. 10. Financial plan – The seminar aims to practice calculating the working capital needs. This is an important part of planning, as working capital significantly impacts the business's cash flow, which directly affects its viability. The first part of the calculation of the working capital needs is devoted to calculating the operating cycle, as the time between payment for the purchase of goods or material and the received cash for sold products. The second composite of the calculation is the average daily operating costs. 11. Financial plan and control – At the seminar, we begin by practicing the method of balance sheet planning, namely the method of the percentage of revenue. We continue by planning cash flow, practicing an indirect method of projecting cash flow that has a broad application in practice. We continue to practice the interconnection of financial statements as a comprehensive practice problem. Finally, we are looking at the differential and proportional method of plan monitoring. 12. Presentation of semester papers and discussion – One of the most important added values of our course is acquiring practical skills in creating and presenting a business plan. Here, students are given an enormous opportunity to gain practical experience in this aspect of planning. By presenting their semester projects, they acquire practical skills with the presentation; the subsequent discussion provides them with feedback on the shortcomings of their work and presentation and the possibility of perfecting it in the future. On the evaluation side, students acquire practical analytical skills, identify weaknesses, deepen their understanding of the issues, improve their skills through inspiration, and learn from others' projects. It is mandatory that all students present their work. 13. Presentation of semester papers and discussion – One of the most important added values of our course is acquiring practical skills in creating and presenting a business plan. Here, students are given an enormous opportunity to gain practical experience in this aspect of planning. By presenting their semester projects, they acquire practical skills with the presentation; the subsequent discussion provides them with feedback on the shortcomings of their work and presentation and the possibility of perfecting it in the future. On the evaluation side, students acquire practical analytical skills, identify weaknesses, deepen their understanding of the issues, improve their skills through inspiration, and learn from others' projects. It is mandatory that all students present their work.