P
Plan – an explicit formulation of a program of action for achieving a particular end.
Planning – (1) the process of generating a coherent system of decisions for attaining an end. (2) "the design of a desired future and of effective ways of bringing it about" (Russell Ackoff: A Concept of Corporate Planning, 1970, Wiley).
Policy – (1) a body of principles that serves to guide decision making. (2) a general course of action based on an adopted body of principles.
Positive Feedback – the process of reinforcing or amplifying system output.
Predictive model - a formal representation of a system that attempts to forecast system behavior.
Prescriptive model - a formal representation of a system that generates a recommended course of action which may not be optimal but is effective.
Q
R
Risk – chance of incurring a well-defined loss. (Some authors, following Frank H. Knight, use the term to mean randomness with knowable probabilities.)
S
Strategic Planning – an oxymoron.
Strategy – an intended though contingent overall course of action for pursuing major goals. Strategists appraise strenghts and weaknesses of the organization and opportunities and threats in the environment to determine distinctive competences and key success factors, respectively, from which strategy is crafted.
Structure – the logical arrangement of the components that make up a whole.
System – a set of interrelated elements that exhibit order, purpose or meaningful behavior to an observer.
Systems Analysis – the process of decomposing a system into its constituent parts in order to determine the functional relationships that enable the system to perform as an integrated whole.
Systems Design – the process of rationally synthesizing a new system.
T
Tactics - the process of devising and implementing a specific plan of action for achieving limited objectives which usually contribute to broader purposes.
