Which planning approach uses breakthrough planning with up to four vision statements guiding the company's direction for the next five years, with goals developed from the vision statements and periodic audits to monitor progress?

• A. Hoshin planning
• B. Hoshin
• C. Gantt chart
• D. Hedge inventory

Answer: (A)

Hoshin planning, or policy deployment, is a strategic planning method that starts with a few long-range guiding statements or visions for the organization. It creates breakthrough objectives to achieve those visions over a multi-year horizon, typically about five years. The next step is to translate those visions into concrete goals and cascade them throughout the organization so every level aligns its actions with the same direction. This cascading is often done through a collaborative process that revises and refines goals as they pass through the organization. Periodic audits or reviews then monitor progress, ensure accountability, and adjust actions to stay on track with the visions.

That combination—vision-based breakthrough planning, goals derived from those visions, and regular progress reviews—fits the description precisely. A Gantt chart is primarily a scheduling tool for sequencing tasks, hedge inventory relates to safety stock levels, and just using the term “Hoshin” without the full policy-deployment framework wouldn’t capture the emphasis on cascading goals and ongoing audits.