PLANNING

Planning: The design for tomorrow’s action. It concerns future. It is a projected course of action.

 Planning is a familiar everyday activity

 Managers at all levels require planning
 Planning is a process that does not end when a plan is agreed upon.
 Plans are to be implemented otherwise they will not bring any result
 A manager who makes plans but does not try to implement them is simply wasting
resources
 First plan your work and then work your plan
 Planning concerns future

Planning Answers THREE Basic Questions

 Where we are now?

 Where do we want to go?
 How can we go there from here?

To get an answer to the above THREE questions A MANAGER is required to do:

 Assessment of the present position

 Set/Determine objective
 Make an action plan

Why Do We Need Plan?

 Let things happen/Make things happen

 Accept the future/Affect the future
 Individuals and organizations both need plan
 Time and effectiveness of planning

Classification of Planning

No standard classification of planning

Planning may be divided into following classes.

1. Short Range Planning: Plans which are usually made for below one year. Example: Study
plan for a semester.
2. Long Range Planning: Plans which are made for one year or above one year. Example:
Study plan for the whole MBA program.
3. Tactical Planning: A plan which covers very short span of time. Example: A vacation plan.
 4. Strategic Planning: A plan which covers long span of time in advance. Example: Setting
objectives, making policies.

Another way of classification of planning:

1. Goal: A plan expressed in terms of results to be achieved

Example: A businessman wants to make 20% profit on his capital employed in the coming
financial year.
Example: A student wants to get grade ‘A’ in his coming Term Final exam.

2. Single use Plan: A plan which can be used for a single time only. The plan loses its
effectiveness as and when the objective is reached. Of course experiences of such a plan can
be used as a frame of reference.

Example: A plan to construct a building, road, dam, canal

Example: A plan for a picnic

3. Standing Plan: A standing plan can be used again and again and the plan does not lose its
effectiveness because of its repetitive use.

Example: A plan to promote, demote or transfer employees

Example: A plan to procure raw materials
Example: A plan to conduct admission work of a University

Types of Standing Plan

Standing plan may be of 3 types:

1. Policy
2. Procedure
3. Method

Policy: Policy is a kind of standing plan. It is a standing answer to a recurring question. Policy sets
the boundary of activities of a manager and a manager should not go beyond policy. Examples:
 Promotion policy
 Transfer policy
 Marketing policy
 Admission policy of a University

Procedure: A procedure is a series of related steps or tasks expressed in chronological order (in
order of time) to achieve a specific objective. Example: BCS selection procedure

Method: Method is a part of a procedure. A step of a procedure may be termed as method. Example:
Witten method of selection.