Planner at the Helm

Abstract

With this interview of W.R. Goodwin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Johns‐Manville, Planning Review initiates a series of articles designed to elicit the opinion of top management on the effectiveness of planning and the proper direction for the state of the art. In simple terms the question is, “How are planning and the planning process viewed from the CEO's office?” Dr. Goodwin was chosen to be the first CEO interviewed because he is one of those rare chief executives who was promoted to top management after a stint as chief planner. Obviously, he is well acquainted with the methodology of planning, the various ways it can be utilized by a corporation, and its potentials. Other executives interviewed in the series will be selected on the basis of their professional experience with planning before their promotions. In this first interview, the interviewers — Robert J. Allio, President of NASCP, and Robert Randall, contributing editor to Planning Review — attempted to make the session informal and more a conversation than an interrogation. For this reason, specific and detailed questions about the Johns‐Manville planning cycle and organizational structure were omitted. Instead, the time spent with Dr. Goodwin gave Planning Review an invaluable chance to learn about his attitude toward planning. Planning Review would like to take this occasion to thank Dr. Goodwin for being so generous with his time. To condense the hour and a half of insight he so cheerfully gave the interviews, the editors have blue‐penciled extensively. In addition, much of the responsibility for the interview's organization rests with the editors. Interestingly, although the interviewers provided Dr. Goodwin with a list of questions in advance, these never became a central part of the discussion. Chief executives tend to answer questions they raise themselves.

Citation

Allio, R.J. and Randall, R. (1976), "Planner at the Helm", Planning Review, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb053762