Planning and managing organisations/PMAN103/Putting it all together/Overview

Case study about Worldcom

The WorldCom case study shows how decision making, planning, strategy and adapting to change can go horribly wrong within an organization. It is the basis for all the course challenges so hopefully you read it carefully before completing the challenges:

1. Section 11.1 of Chapter 11 in the Organizational Behavior book available from Saylor Academy

In this course, you have been exposed to the management process from beginning to end. You learned how to set goals, objectives and metrics to measure their success. You learned how to develop a plan and strategy to achieve these goals, and you learned about the decision-making process that ensures the organization has enough flexibility to adjust along the way to unpredictable events. These tasks are at the core of what managers do every day.

Throughout the course, you were asked to complete a series of interrelated challenges to put the skills you have acquired into practice using the WorldCom case study. As an output of each challenge, you were invited to publish a short blog post in order to share your work with your classmates and exchange feedback. If you were not able to complete part or all of a learning challenge at the end of a pathway, make sure you complete all parts of all challenges before going on to your final course assessment (mandatory if you wish to seek formal credit). Below is a summary list of the challenges you were asked to complete for this course:

Summary of learning challenges

Learning challenge	Relevant skills	Outcomes
Setting goals, objectives and measures	Analytical skills Ability to differentiate between goals, objectives and measures Ability to identify unrealistic/poorly defined objectives Ability to define an objective out of a set of goals	A set of goals, objectives and metrics.
Planning and strategy	Analytical skills Ability to differentiate between planning and strategy Synthesizing skills	A roadmap for managers and employees to follow.
Decision-making	Analytical skills Ability to identify poor decisions Ability to select the appropriate decision in a particular context	A series of decisions in reaction to specific events.
Managing the unknown	Analytical skills Ability for abstract thinking Flexibility to adapt to future changes	A series of principles to live by in order to be ready for the unpredictability of the future.