Planninh Case

Planning

In general, the purpose of planning is to achieve goals. Goal is a desired future state that the organization attempts to realize. Goals are important because organizations exist for a purpose, and goals define and state that purpose. A plan, on the other hand, is a blueprint for goal achievement and specifies the necessary resource allocations, schedules, tasks, and other actions. Goals specify future ends whereas plans specify today's means. The concept of planning usually incorporates both ideas; it means determining the organization's goals and defining the means for achieving them. This concept has been well adopted by Panda Express. As the result, it has transformed the company into one of America's fast growing Chinese restaurant concept today. The mission of Panda Express is to deliver exceptional Asian dining experiences by building an organization where people are inspired to better their lives. Right from their mission statement, one can see that Panda has set forth their goals – to bring the highest quality in serving the food to its customers, and to strengthen the employees both mentally and physically so they can live their lives better.

From a customer perspective, there are some key strengths and weaknesses of this business that I have found during my interview with one of the managers who has been working there for over three years. Some of its key strengths are:

• Satisfying customers is their number one priority. They know that once their customers are pleased with the food quality and the service, not only will they come back, but also they will recommend their business to others as well. Hence, the revenue will go up. Panda will do what it takes to bring in more and more customers every day.

• Another key strength that I have noticed is the management structure of the whole organization. They have a very strong centralization structure. Every decision will be made from the CEO of the company. Everyone in the organization supports each other. Above managers, there are ACO who oversee the operation of nine to ten businesses within the area, and support the managers whenever they need help. I was told that this is the reason why Panda Express has grown to nearly over 1500 stores in 44 states in 20 years.

• Opposed to their key strengths are some of the weaknesses that I think they are facing. The first weakness that they are facing right now is that they are not communicating with the employees effectively.

• Another aspect of this business that from my point of view seems to be the weakness is that their employees are not socializing well with one another. I had noticed that there was not a lot of interacting among the employees. It seemed there was a silent environment in which they were working.

• What I perceive to be the potential for this business is that their business will be very consistent