Question

Benjamin Franklin once suggested that failure to plan is a plan to fail. Thus, is it critical that business plans are developed that chart the future direction of the organization. Should the business plan remain static, or should it change over time? Should the personnel plan (aka HRM plan) remain consistent and static, or should it too change over time? Why or why not? Please support your response through research and example.

Answer 1

A business plan is the set of the proposed courses of action for the near future. Business plans are developed before starting the business activities and operations considering specific situations. As time changes, the changes in the external environment of business and growth of the business, the modifications in the business plan are required. Consider the example of a small business firm. As the size of the business increases, the operations get complex and the business plan needs to be changed. The capacity of production needs to be increased, the reach of the market needs to be expanded, and the product line needs to be extended. Growth of the business is the internal factor for changes in the business plan. The business plans need to be changed due to some external factors also. For example, changes in government policy, changes in customer demand, changes in the technology, or emergency (such as COVID-19). Consider the example of Amazon. Amazon sells products online. Due to the pandemic COVID-19, the company has to limit the operations to deliver essential goods only. Due to this situation, the company has to change the plan of sales, projections, and other actions. Apart from the emergency, due to changes in government policy, businesses need to change the business plan. For instance, the government increases the import and export duties of specific raw material or product, the companies need to change the future course of action to mitigate the risk of policy change.

HR plan also changes with time according to the demand and changes in the business. For instance, when the size of the business increases, the firms need to hire more employees, which requires changes in the HR plan. As opposed to this, when the firm limits the operations, the firm needs to lay off some employees. In both situations, the HR plan changes. Apart from these internal factors, external factors such as contingencies, government policy, the demand for the products, and technological changes, HR plan changes. For instance, due to pandemic COVID-19, many businesses offer work from home to the employees, while some businesses are running to expand capacity. Due to the changes, the HR plan needs to be changed to manage human resources effectively.

Hope the answer will help. Thank you.