[' ', ' ', 'TASK', 'FORCE', 'RECOMMENDATIONS', 'FORMAT', 'o', 'Prepare', 'one', 'integrated', 'document', 'incorporating', 'both', 'the', '5-year', 'Strategic', 'Plan', 'and', 'the', 'Operating', 'Plan.', '©', 'Although', '‘the', 'plans', 'would', 'be', 'integrated', 'and', 'lead', 'to', 'one', 'document,', 'retain', 'the', 'sequential', 'approach', 'with', 'strategic', 'planning', 'preceeding', 'the', 'more', 'detailed', 'action-plan', 'oriented', 'Operating', 'Plan', 'elements.', 'Response', 'Both', 'of', 'the', 'above', 'recommendations', 'have', 'been', 'incorporated', 'into', 'the', 'proposed', 'Integrated', 'Planning', 'Calendar.', '©', 'Eliminate', 'entirely', 'the', 'mid-year', '(May)', 'forecast.', 'Use', 'Operating', 'Plan', 'for', 'performance', 'measurement.', 'Response', 'As', 'indicated', 'earlier,', 'Business', 'Planning', '&', 'Development', 'and', 'Corporate', 'Budgeting', 'believe', 'that', 'the', 'distinct', 'differences', 'in', 'the', 'objective', 'of', 'the', 'Forecasting', 'System,', 'as', 'opposed', 'to', 'the', 'Planning', 'objectives,', 'and', 'the', 'absence', 'of', 'significant', 'duplication', 'should', 'result', 'in', 'exclusion', 'of', 'the', 'Forecasting', 'System', 'from', 'the', 'integrated', 'planning', 'proposal.', 'However,', 'a', 'discussion', 'of', 'the', 'May', 'Forecast', 'is', 'still', 'appropriate.', 'The', 'concept.', 'supporting', 'the', 'May', 'Forecast', 'is', 'to', 'provide', 'a', 'comprehensive', 'forecast', 'of', 'probable', 'current', 'year', 'performance', 'using', 'current', 'information', '(which', 'includes', 'lst', 'Quarter', 'Actual', 'Results),', 'and', 'to', 'adjust', 'for', 'major', 'changes', 'in', 'Operating', 'Plan', 'assumptions.', 'The', 'Corporate', 'requirements', 'are', 'summary', 'in', 'nature', 'and', 'do', 'not', 'require', 'the', 'detail', 'which', 'some', 'of', 'the', 'operating', 'units', 'are', 'now', 'preparing.', 'Basically,', 'we', 'believe', 'that', 'the', 'problem', 'with', 'the', 'May', 'Forecast', 'is', 'that', 'it', 'results', 'in', 'an', '"Earnings', 'commitment"', 'which', 'is', 'not', 'a', 'Corporate-wide', 'policy.', 'The', 'amount', 'of', 'work', 'and', 'effort', 'involved', 'in', 'preparation', 'of', 'the', 'May', 'Forecast', 'varies', 'significantly', 'between', 'Operating', 'Units,', 'and', 'those', 'Companies', 'for', 'whom', 'it', 'is', 'a', 'commitment', 'generally', 'go', 'through', 'a', 'more', 'thorough', 'and', 'arduous', 'exercise.', '.', 'We', 'recognize', 'that', 'the', 'May', 'Forecast', '(in', 'some', 'cases)', 'now', 'results', 'in', 'less', 'emphasis', 'and', 'attention', 'to', 'the', 'monthly', 'forecasts.', 'We', 'also', 'recognize', 'that', 'more', 'emphasis', 'and', 'attention', 'to', 'the', 'monthly', 'forecasts', 'is', 'imperative', 'if', 'we', 'are', 'to', 'achieve', 'more', 'accurate', 'estimates', 'of', 'quarterly', 'earnings.', 'By', 'improving', 'the', 'quality', 'of', 'the', 'monthly', 'forecasts,', 'the', 'Corporate', 'requirements', 'for', 'the', 'May', 'Forecast', 'could', 'be', 'eliminated.', '-', '14', '-', 'Zh6S', '#6E0S', ' ']