DISCUSS THE NATURE

AND LEVEL
OF PLANNING AND
TYPES OF PLANS
Planning
provides direction to all of the organization's human resources -
both managers as well as employees. If they know what their firm
or their work unit is trying to achieve and what activities they
should engage in to be able to contribute to the achievement of
the firm's set vision, mission, goals and objectives, they would
coordinate their actions and collaborate well with one another.

Planning is important because it reduces uncertainty; it compels

managers to consider future events that may affect their
company. Anticipating changes and their impact will help
managers and other workers to react to such changes
appropriately.
Minimizing of wastes will result if there is proper
coordination of activities due to planning; negative
practices, ineffectiveness and inefficiencies could be
easily detected and can be corrected or eliminated.

Establishing goals and standards during planning may be

used for controlling, another necessary managerial
function. Without planning, goals and standards will be
absent and controlling will not be possible.

Without planning, goals and standards will be absent and

controlling will not be possible.

Goal- Setting - the identification of targets or desired

ends that management wants to reach.
Vision- a mental image of what the
organization will be in the way future, as
desired by the company management and
employees.

Mission - basic purpose of an organization and

range of their operations. Objectives - steps
needed in order to attain desired ends.

Objectives- steps needed in order to attain

desired ends.
RELATIONSHIP OF PLANNING TO INDIVIDUAL AND
ORGANZATIONAL PERFOMANCE
Is there a clear relationship between planning
and performance? Although numerous
researchers have shown a generally positive
relationship between planning and
performance, it would not be advisable,
however, to judge that organizations or
individuals who formally plan have better
performance compared to those who do not
plan.
 Finally,the planning-performance relationship
could also be associated with the time spent in
preparing and executing a formal organizational or
individual plan. A well-thought-out plan must
require a longer period of preparation; its
execution or individuals who formally plan have
better performance compared to those who do not
plan.

 application must also be done for a certain

period of time - months or years - before it
begins to affect performance.
 DIFFERECE BETWEEN
GOALS AND PLANS
Goals are the targets or desired ends that
management wants to reach, while plans are the
actions or means that administrators/managers
intend to use to achieve organizational goals. In
short, goals serve as the foundation of planning.
Goals precede plans because knowing the desired
targets is a must before establishing plans for
reaching them.
 TYPES OF PLANS
Organizational plans can be generally described in
terms of comprehensiveness, length of time covered or
time frame, specificity and frequency of use.

Comprehensiveness refers to the completeness of

planning coverage; for example; it may start from plans
that cover the entire organization, called strategic plans,
up to operational plans that apply to a particular
operational area only.
A plan may be long –term, or covering ,more
than three years, or short-term, covering
one year or less. Top level management
usually sets the long-range plans, while
lower level management focuses on short-
term goals.

Specificity refers to very detailed, clearly

defined plans wherein objective are clearly
stated and could easily be understood.
Simple language must be used in order to
facilitate understanding of the plan.
 Frequency of use refers to the number of times or
instances a plan may be used. For example, strategical
plans have single use, while operational plans are usually
standing or are used frequently or for several times.
Referring to set plans is often necessary to ensure that all
plans are carried out, thus, hastening the achievement of
the organization's goals.
 Strategic plans - plans that establish the organization's
overall goals and apply to the entire firm; they are broad
in scope and are the responsibility of the CEO, president
and general manager of the company.
 Operational plans - plans that apply to a particular
unit area only; their scope is narrow; achievement of
company goals may not be achieved if operational plans
are not clear.
 Long-term plans - plans that go beyond three years;
everyone must understand the organization's long-term
plans to avoid confusion that may divers the organization
members' attention.
 Short-term plans - plans that cover one year or less;
such plans must lead toward the attainment of long-term
goals and are the responsibility of the unit/ department
heads.
 Directional plans - plans that are flexible or give
general guidelines only; although flexible and
general, these plans must still be related to the
strategic plans.
 Specific plans- plans that are clearly stated and
which have no room for interpretation; language
used must be very understandable. Single-use plans
- plans used or stated once only as this applies to the
entire organization; refer to the operational plans of
the firm.
 Standing plans - plans that are ongoing; provide
guidance for different activities done repeatedly;
refer to the identified activities of operational plans.
 STEPS IN PLANNING
 1. Define your goals/ objectives by identifying desired
outcomes/results in very specific ways.
 2. Determine where you stand in relation to set goals/objectives;
know your strengths and weaknesses.
 3. Develop premises regarding future conditions; anticipate future
events, generate alternative "scenarios" for what may happen; identify
for each scenario things that may help or hinder progress toward your
goals/objectives;
 4. Analyze and choose among actions alternatives; list and carefully
evaluate possible actions and choose the alternative, most likely to
accomplish goals /objectives.
 5. Implement the plan and evaluate results; take corrective action and
revise plans as needed.
 PLANNING AND DIFFERENT LEVELS IN
THE FIRM
 Differentlevels in the firm are all engaged
planning; however, all the resulting plans
must be related to one another and directed
toward the same goals. Planning at the
different levels of management include
strategic planning, tactical planning and
operational planning.
 TOP LEVEL MANAGEMENT PLANNING
 Asearlier mentioned, top-level managers are responsible
for the organization's strategic planning which involves
making decision about the organization's long-term goals
and strategies. CEOs, company presidents, or the
organization's senior executives develop and execute
the said strategic plan, They, however, do not formulate
or execute the plan on their own; a management team
supports and helps top-level managers in carrying out
these tasks.
MIDDLE-LEVEL MANAGEMENT PLANNING

Tactical planning refers to a set of

procedures for changing or transforming
broad strategic goals and plans into specific
goals and plans that are applicable and
needed in one unit/portion of the
organization. I tis focused on major actions
that must be done by a unit in order to
contribute its share for the achievement of
the strategic plan.
 Organization in plan
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Organization goals

TACTICAL PLANNING
Organization objectives
Division of objectives

Department objectives
OPERATIONAL PLANNING
Individual objectives
 FRONTLINE/LOWER-LEVEL MANAGEMENT
PLANNING
(OPERATION PLANNING)
 Operational planning involves identifying
the specific procedures and processes
required at the lower levels of the
organization. This also involves routine at
the lower levels of the organization. This
also involves routine tasks or tasks
repeatedly done by the organization's
lower level units.
 INTEGRATING STRATEGIC, TACTICAL
AND OPERATIONAL PLANNING
 Integrating Strategic, Tactical and Operational
Planning The present organizational planning is not
as rigid as the hierarchical planning. Managers in
different hierarchical levels of the organization may
contribute their ideas or suggestions in developing
the strategic plan, a task originally assigned to the
senior executives.