Managerial planning CBSE. Definations, plans,
planning is the most fundamental function of management, An organisation can succeed in effective utilization of its human, material and financial resources only when its management decides in advance its objectives and methods of achieving them, if group effort is to be effective , people must know what they are expected to accomplish . this is the function of planning , planning involves selecting from among alternative future. courses of action for the enterprise as a whole and for every departmental or section within, it , requires selecting enterprises objectives and departmental goals and determining ways, of achieving them, in this sense, plans provide a rational approach to preselected objectives planning also implies managerial innovation
planning is deciding in advance objectives of the organisation in the short as well as long, run and the mean of attaining them, thus planning bridges the gap from where we are to where we want to go. it makes it possible for things to occur which would not otherwise happen. Although it is extremely difficult to predict the exact future and although there are some factors which are beyond our control and they may interfere with the best laid plans, but without plans, we are leaving events to chance. in other words, planning is an intellectually demanding process as it requires conscious determination of course of action and basing our decisions on purpose, knowledge and, considered estimates,
planning is deciding in advance what to do , how to do, when to do and who is to do it, so we can say that elements of planning can be:
- what will be done :– here objectives of business are to be decided in the short as well as in the long run
- what resources will be required :-This involves estimation of available and potential resources, estimation of resources required for the achievement of objectives, and filling the gap between the two, if any
- how it will be done it:–comprises two things (i) determination of tasks activities , projects, programmes etc, required for the attainment of objectives and (ii) formulation of strategies, policies , procedures, methods, standard and budgets for the above purpose,
- who will do it:- it involves assigning the responsibilities to various managers for attaining enterprise objectives, these enterprise objectives are further broken down into segmental objectives resulting into divisional, departmental sectional and individual objectives,
The nature of planning;
- Contribution of planning to accomplishing purpose and objectives of the organisation : The purpose of every plan all its supporting plans is to contribute to the attainment of enterprise purpose and objectives.
- primacy of planning:– planning logically preceds the performance of all other managerial function as in other managerial function like organising , staffing directing and controlling operations are designed to support the accomplishment of the planned is unique as it involves establishing the objectives necessary for all group efforts, it is therefore necessary for a manager to plan in order to know what kind of organisation relationship and personal qualification are needed, how subordinates are to be led and what kind of control is to be executed moreover. all the other managerial function too should be planned if they are to be effective, planning and contol without plans is meaningless as there is no way for the people to tell whether they are going the right way unless they first know where did they want to go. therefore. plans furnish the standard for control.
- pervasiveness of planning :- planning is a function of all managers, it is the responsibility of every manager to set his goals and operating plans in doing this, he formulates his goals and plans within the framework of the goals and plans of his superior. Thus planning is not the responsibility for all those who are responsible for the accomplishment of results, here is should be considered that planning acquires greater important and tends to be longer in the future at higher than at lower management levels,
- planning is a continuous process:– A plan means a statement of future intentions relating to objectives and means of their attainment , so planning deals with the future, and future by its very nature is uncertain , plans cannot be said as final because revisions are required to be made in them in response to changes taking place in the internal as well as external environment of the enterprise.
objectives of planning
- To offset uncertainty and change: uncertainty and changes of future make planning a necessity, future is uncertain to the extent it is known, planning is based on estimate of the future which enables the management to anticipate opportunities and challenges , it makes necessary changes in its technology, products, policies, strategies and practices to take maximum advantage of new opportunities , and minimise its caused by favourable situations,
- To focus Attention on objectives: because all planning is directed towards achieving enterprise objectives, the very act of planning focuses attention on these objectives all the activities are performed to achieve those objectives, however planning makes these objectives more concrete and tangible by focusing attention on these
- To make Economical operation possible: planning minimises costs because of its emphasis on efficient operation and consistency, the reason is that planning involves the selection of most profitable course of action that would lead to the best results at the least, costs by providing consistency and balance in the efforts, planning introduces continuous and even flow of work without any friction of loss of energy
- To facilitate control: managers cannot check on their subordinate’s accomplishments without having planned goals against which to measure, planned objectives and its instruments including policies, procedures, methods standards, budgets etc, serve as instruments of control, objectives provide the overall criteria for measuring performance, policies, provide the basis of evaluating decisions, standards provide measure of efficiency of operations, budgets provide the basis of financial control, Thus , planning serves as a basis of coordinated operations as well as control,
Limitations of planning
- Uncertainties of future: As future cannot be predicted accurately , the forecasts and premises underlying the plans are subject to error
- Expensive and time consuming:– planning involves expenditure of financial, physical and human resources as well as time this may delay action in certain cases, but it is also true that if sufficient time is not given to the planning process, the plans so produced may prove to be unrealistic,
- Internal inflexibility:– Internal inflexibility in the organisation may compel the planners to make rigid plans, in turn, managers may not like to take initiative and innovative action,
- External factors:- sometimes the effectiveness of planning is limited because of external factors which are beyond the control of the planners, for instance, government control, war labour laws , companies Act, natural factors like earthquakes, etc, may make the implementation of plans very difficult,
Process of planning
- perception of opportunities:– This implies that management should take a preliminary look at possible future opportunities and see them clearly and completely, it should also know its standing in the light of its strengths and waeknesses, besides, it should understand the reason for solving uncertainties and the outcomes, which it expects, setting realistic objectives depends on this awareness of opportunities,
- Establishing objectives:- in the planning process, the second step is to establish objectives for the entire enterprise and then for each subordinate work unit objectives imply the expected results and indicate the end points of what is to be done, where the primary emphasis is to be placed, and what is to be accomplished by the network of strategies, polices, procedures, rules, budgets and programmes, many plans of the enterprise are directed by enterprise objectives, these major plans define the objectives of every department by reflecting the objectives of the enterprise the. objectives of subordinates departments are controlled by the objectives of major departments and so on, however the subdivision managers should be given an opportunity to contribute their ideas for setting their own goals and those of the enterprise . by doing this, the objectives of the concern and of departments can be framed in a better, way,
- Establishing planning premises:– planning premises are the various factors that affect planning, there are various factors which affect the organisational functioning like political factors, moral standards , government controls, prices, demand and availability of various factors of production, the important things is that information is to be collected in respect of all these factors, Thus it can be said that planning premises are forecasts or the assumptions about the environment in which the plans is the carried out, it is important for all the managers involved in the plan to agree on the premises, This agreement is necessary for coordinated planning.
- Determining alternative course of action:– An action can be performed in several ways, however, a particular way is the most suitable for the organisation keeping its limitation view, The management should try to find out these alternatives, the common problems is not in finding alternatives,but in reducing the number of alternatives so that the best possible ones may be analysed even with mathematical tachniques and the computer, these is a limit to the number of alternatives that may be thoroughly examined, so the planner must usually make a preliminary examination in the light of planning premises to discover the best possible course of action,