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Project and Scenario Planning

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Submitted By gyoung
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Both scenario planning and project management are two great planning techniques. There are a few differences between the two. Project management is planning, organizing, securing, and managing assets to successfully complete goals and objectives of a project. Risks are one of the important factors to consider when dealing with project management. These risks often serve as reactive rather than proactive solutions. The main objective of project management is to make sure that all the project goals are achieved within the predetermined restraints. Typical constraints such as time and budget. The Project management cycle works in four stages: Define, plan, implement and close.
Scenario planning is a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long term decisions. This is a good handy management tool. It consists of possibilities while taking into account the many forces surrounding business operations. Scenario planning deals with simulated and hypothetical future events and invites organizations to make contingency plans for such an event occurring. The main focus of scenario planning is to examine what could happen if a particular decision is implemented. This planning technique begins with defining all applicable factors that could lead to both positive and negative consequences. This could be the quality of production equipment or the company’s assets. These are internal factors. External factors would be the state of the economy, political situations, and weather conditions. One advantage to using scenario planning is you can predict potential outcomes; it is possible to prepare in advance for the several potential outcomes rather than meeting them as they come along. This can save your organization a lot of time and money. With scenario planning, you need to stay focused, keep it simple, keep it interactive and allow enough time to

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is
a
group‐based
decision
making
tool, which
has
its
roots
in
post‐
WWII
military
planning
and
the
petroleum
industry
of
the
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Unlike
its
cousins, 
forecasting
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 scenario
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 to
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 future
outcomes
 based
 on
 data
 from
 the
 past.
 
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 methods
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 to
 “tunnel
vision”, 
 due
 to
 their
 preference
 of
 one
 outcome
 over
 another. Scenario
 planning, 
 as
 described
 by
 Peter
 Schwartz, 
 Chairman
 of
 Global
 Business
Network
(GBN),
“…is
a
tool
for
better
decision
making…Business
and
governments
employ
this
tool
because
it
helps
them
to
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strategic
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 (Schlegel, G. L., & Murray, P. 2010) The History
of
Scenario
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Scenario
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 arose
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 of
 a
 need
 to
 plan
 for
 futures
 filled
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 much
uncertainty.
This
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 scenario‐type
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 can
 be
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 back
 to
 19‐century
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