Corporate planning models

Long Range

96

Planning

Vol. 13

February

1980

Book Reviews Edited by Harry Jones

Corporate Plannirly Models, T. H. NA~OR, Addison-Wesley, (1979).

390 pp.

Corporate

Al4.25

Plarttriy

may

be gathered

SIMPLAN. luith SIMPLAN,

and &fodc//iy

SOCIAL SYSTEMS INC., Addison-Wesley, L6.75

London

(hardback). London

B. MAYO and (1979),

porate

454 pp.

planning

test. Because the U.K.

in the

has long been at the forefront

U.S.A.

Corporare many

Given

J’iannirrq

length

bfodels

of the lessons

Systems

the

and

deserves

careful

that he personally

Incorporated

of corporate

quality

modelling

would

of his experience,

reading,

for

Following

an

systems, the

introduction

their

three

production. are

chapter

on the ‘politics

in Social

particularly

modeller.

the author

planning

for

process,

The book

some

Planning

Models

of rhe other

detailed

books

your

too

Mayo’s very

substance,

Co,,,plrtcr-assrstr,d

Boulden’s

It seems tc> the reviewer experience.

and

inodeis.

is the same

Blrlidirl,q Fi,lancia/

Alcldcis. However,

financial

models.

Naylor

marketing

and

cconomctric

scope

Grinyer

edition

of

which

Accountants

spends

manual,

pttblished

iu England

dnd Wales

too, like KrI&‘b conccntratcs dlffkrent. larccly

mo,

for whllc

particul;rli_ on their

than

aspects, builders.

to the latter. ,urvey

cornprehensIve

reports

rcfcrs

111sesamplcs

111so\vn lar?cly

Two

pubon

aspect always

it is wider

in

of

bv Dritton

will be

(56213)

express

30 pp. S4.00 (softback).

speaks

of such

of ‘-1 subject

the planners

who

presumably;

w?ll find nothmg more

new

in It. Its

as an ndmirabiy

of plannmg

short

for chief executives.

the theme-‘The

profitability’

and

IS

The

Excellent

Planning

to Come

busyness

of planning

is a new

and

is

different

: plannmg

but f;>r the Lvord ‘new

Fundamentals Process,

(a rcferencc

management

purpose

‘planning

ofmanagement. (a good

cxplanatlon

Implementation

to ‘two

major

developments

scene--Mallagclncnt

of the

of the Plan.

and

on the

Information

Svstcnl5

and Modelling).

themselves

is dlrccted

more

.The dinsrams

and Woollcr

draw

and do not sho\~ the nccehsar);

and provide

ava~l,tble survey

a

m the U.K. of users and

to onlv 111so\vn

language,

on Social Systems,

v11Iun1c to Ton1 Navlor’s

(1978),

part of their work

work

American

Me)-cr

but

as a modelling

Strategy,

much

esplanation

was a Vital part

own.

slvc

an unintended

impression

circularltv

chlcf

czccutivcc.

Nor

IS there

c,& the ‘pollr~c,~l dlnlcnsion’. etc.) arc tlresonle

have

slipped

comment

~~fcxcc~~ivc

111the process

and the text ius of strategic pcrfccrnlnnce, inlprc,\lorl--a pity, of the booklet IS prlnlartlv

‘mually’,

con~pan~on

that

Britton

London

But

of members

of management’.

Things

Its emphasis

address

‘1 large

Ohio

considerable-is

quotations

concept),

Charmed

errors m a good

School,

to its members’.

The four parts are headed

the 2nd

SIMPLAN. For this reas(on, the book

of Business

Oxford,

the majorit)-

long-range

on

Institute

systems

.md .lppcndlx

value

SIMPLAN

to this PEI monograph

interest

but comprehensive

of time

Today,

wh,lC Grln).cr

of inodclling

book

~&tic/s

modclling.

N.lvlor’r

provides

he is sure

bookshelves.

restricted

to adopt

book

and

it to their

has a more

Business

Institute,

value-probably

Fiuarlrial

concentrates

Similarly,

Wooller

directing

used

corporate

amount

of the state of the art In the U.K.. survey

TL>m Naylor m both

and

Naylor’s

literature.

to add

intending

University

constitute

197X.in so far a, this book,

in

Tom

Ayam.

Krish

the

on financial

Grin)-cr

to mana~cmcnt

to users rather

by

great

1975.

Corporate excellent

whilst too.

fmds that Tom

however,

to those

The foreword

than Jim

Ltd. m 1975. and called

Carpornre

widely

to

has more

i.e. building

Baskcr’s

models,

more

who

So Yorr want to Hol*r a Lory Rarye Piau, W. W. SI~L,LIC)NX. Planning

based on broader

a considerable

and Woollcr. was

by reference oriented

as Meyer,

Programmcs

is already

to

here

users in the U.S.A.

to the earlier

will be pleased

useful

The City

system

technical,

sophlstlcatcd.

of Krirh

Business

users

The

Sysrc,fjl. McGraw-Hill,

1977. Its orientation,

as that

lished by A,soclatlon

than

It is more

yet still as readable

Plarrrritf,? ~%f&/.c, Wiley,

existing

by some well-

on the modelling

less apphcatlon

to be more

reviewer

PETERH. GRINYER Professor

on the models,

aspects.

is completed

Plalrriiyq

to be many

introductory

re-introduced

is also useful reading

can be put in context

but is perhaps

an excellent been

in cor-

the prospective

system.

and

SIMPLAN.

in the field.

For

recently

and has many

complement

Executives Corporate

it provides

but SIMPLAN

Europe

on the use of models

and

texts

marketing

and an appendix

he

marketing

few sound

perfunctory.

has only

are unlikely

find it helpful,

In summaT,

modelling

to econometric

modelling’

is associated,

and

financial,

attention

of corporate

case studies

which

model:

models,

planning

of the relatively

appropriate

documented

planning

based

the corporate

considerable

for the prospective

corporate

of

most

he gives

which

with

into

categories

Unlike

subject,

to

integration

major

there

a good

of computer

however,

a manual

of corporate

use

it instills

and his colleagues

have learnt.

the design

of the

SIMPLAN

in continental

others addresses

the title, is basically

is consequently

user of SIMPLAN,

(softback).

T. N. Naylor

from

Its treatment

does

fnrmallt)

vld monitor-

not

correct

to convu~cc

on \vhat

The . ~;cncralizatinns

Bernard

the

jccptlcal Taylor

(‘~nost companies’,

and 100 ~n,m); spelling

.md gr.m~ln2tlc‘ll

chroagh.

Inc.,

Thus book,

as

II. H. TEAGER. Planning

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Services,

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