Top down plans are often overly aggressive and unrealistic calling for performance the company cannot achieve. Bottom up planning, on the other hand, tends to produce plans that don't call out the best the organization can do. Where do these tendencies come from, and why do they exist. Describe an ideal planning process in terms of top down and bottom up.

A top down plan forces top management's goals on the organization, often when they're not realistic. Top managers do this because their personal success rides on the performance of the organization. They therefore tend to create plans that are beyond what's achievable in a quest for that personal success. A bottom-up plan is built up from statements of capabilities and needs made by middle and lower level managers. It tends to understate what the organization can be stretched to accomplish. Middle managers tend to under forecast because they know they'll be evaluated and compensated based on their performance against the plan. Under forecasting tends to set a low target that's easily achieved. A good plan is a combination of top down and bottom up planning. It's created in a give and take process through which an acceptable middle ground is reached.