The Planning Function

What is Planning?
It is the basic function of management. It deals with chalking out a
future course of action & deciding in advance the most appropriate
course of actions for achievement of pre-determined goals. According
to KOONTZ, “Planning is deciding in advance - what to do, when to do
& how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want
to be”. A plan is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem
solving & decision making. Planning is determination of courses of
action to achieve desired goals. Thus, planning is a systematic thinking
about ways & means for accomplishment of pre-determined goals.
Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human & non-
human resources. It is all pervasive, it is an intellectual activity and it
also helps in avoiding confusion, uncertainties, risks, wastages etc.

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 Planning

 Identifying and selecting appropriate goals and

courses of action for an organization.
– The planning function determines how effective and
efficient the organization is and determines the
strategy of the organization.
 Three Steps in the Planning Process:
– Deciding which goals to pursue.
– Deciding what courses of action to adopt.
– Deciding how to allocate resources.
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 Management Key Concepts

 Organization
– People working together and coordinating their
actions to achieve specific goals.
 Goal/objective
– A desired future condition that the organization
seeks to achieve.
 Strategy
– A cluster of decisions about what goals to pursue,
what actions to take, and how to use resources to
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 PLANNING

 A plan is a predetermined course of action

which provides purpose and direction of an
organization.
 Planning is foreseeing future circumstances
and requirements, then, setting objectives,
making long and short term plans and
determining the policies to be followed with
standards to be set.

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  It involves making a systematic process for achieving the organization’s
goals.
 In planning, managers receive and store information, monitor and
disseminate the information.
 A manager makes decisions on strategy and allocation of resources and
initiate planned changes
 Strategic planning is the process of developing and analyzing the
organizations mission, overall goals, general strategies and allocating
resources.

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  A strategy –is a course of action created to
achieve a long – term goal.
 Goals –are the things that the organization
strives to achieve.
 Strategic planning requires a lot of information
gathering, exploring alternatives and
emphasizing future implications of its current
decisions.

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 Steps in planning

 1. Define the organization‘s mission and vision.

A mission is the purpose of the organization.It
explains why the organization exists .

Vision is the future goal or achievement of an

organization. It guides the mission of the
organization by defining measurable strategic
and financial objectives

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  2. SWOT ANALYSIS
 Analyze the strength, weaknesses and identify
opportunities and threats of the organization
i.e. SWOT Analysis baseline. SWOT analysis
is used as the basis for future improvements.

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 3. Setting goals and objectives.
Goals and objectives are developed to bridge
the gap between current capability and the
mission
Objectives – are statements describing results
and the way in which they will be achieved.
They are more specific and narrower than
goals.

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 4. Develop a strategy.
Information collected from the environmental
scan is used to:
Match strengths with opportunities and address
weaknesses while trying to minimize threats to
its existence.
Make superior profits by getting a competitive
advantage over competitors.
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 5. Implementation of strategy.
Strategy is implemented by developing
programs, budgets and procedures.

It involves organizing the firm’s resources and

motivating staff to achieve the firm’s objectives.

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 6. Evaluating /monitoring and control
Evaluation and control consists of:
 Defining parameters to be measured.
 Defining the target values of those parameters.
 Performing measurement.
 Comparing measured results to predefined
standards.
 Making necessary changes.
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 Thanks… Qs. If any?

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