Hello everyone, in the previous topic we were talking about Digital Marketing. Today we are going to talk about Planning, Need of Planning, Characteristic of Planning, Process Of Planning, Types of Planning and its scope.

WHAT IS PLANNING

INTRODUCTION

In management planning is the first step for action. At the start of any business, the business man must have to decide which type of business they will take up with how they secure fund, where they will locate their business and soon.

Planning is the basic managerial function & planning in management plays a vital role for any business.

It is a decision in advance, what to do, when to do, how to do and who will do a particular tasks. Planning is the process which involves thinking before doing.

It is an intellectual process which lays down an organization’s objectives and develops various courses of action, by which the organization can achieve those objectives.

Some definition of Planning by some personalities-

According to George R Terry “Planning is the selecting and relating of facts and the making and using of assumptions regarding the future in the visualization and formulation of purposed activities believed necessary to achieve desired results”.

According to Louis A. Alien “Management planning involves the development of forecasts, objectives, policies, programmes, procedures, schedules and budgets.”

According to M.E. Hurley “Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done in future. It involves the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programmes from among the alternatives”.

According to James Lundy “Planning means the determination of what is to be done, how it is to be done, who is to do it, and how results are evaluated.”

Thus, planning is an intellectual exercise of looking into future i.e. to decide in advance the activities to be undertaken in future and also to visualize the best course of action to achieve the desired goals, leading to decision making and controlling.

NEED OF PLANNING

1. For survival and growth.
2.  To face new problems or difficulties.
3. To face challenges created by changing environmental factors/forces.
4.  To ensures accuracy, economy and operational efficiency in business management.

CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANNING

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• Managerial function– Planning is a first and foremost managerial function that provides the base for other functions of the management, i.e. organizing, staffing, directing and controlling, as they are performed within the periphery of the plans made.

• Primary function– The management activity starts with planning. It precedes the execution of all other managerial functions. It allows managers to organize, staff, direct and control the activities in a better way so as to achieve organizational goals.

• Pervasive function– Planning is not only the function of top level management or any particular department. It is required at all levels of management. However, the scope and nature of planning is different at different levels and in different departments.

• Higher efficiency– Efficiency is the ratio between input and output. Achieving more output with same input, or reducing the input to achieve the same output is referred to as efficiency. Planning minimizes the input and maximizes output. Thus, planning maximizes organizational efficiency.

• Flexibility– Planning should pro-act and react to the environmental changes. Liberalization, privatization and globalization make the external environment more dynamic. This in turn results in high competitiveness and customer-centered production and marketing.

• Goal-oriented– It focuses on defining the goals of the organization, identifying alternative courses of action and deciding the appropriate action plan, which is to be undertaken for reaching the goals. Planning is focused on those efforts necessary to achieve future end-states.

• Decision-oriented– The planning process involves decision making that specifies actions necessary to achieve future goals.

• Forecasting is the essence of planning– Planning has the central concern with future. It is evaluation and analysis of future in advance. It means bridging the gap to the future.

• Pervasive– It is pervasive in the sense that it is present in all the segments and is required at all levels of the organization.

• Continuous Process– Plans are made for a specific term, say for a month, quarter, and year and so on. Once that period is over, new plans are drawn, considering the organization’s present and future requirements and conditions. Therefore, it is an ongoing process, as the plans are framed, executed and followed by another plan.

• Intellectual Process– It is a mental exercise at it involves the application of mind, to think, forecast, imagine intelligently and innovate, etc.

• Futuristic– In the process of planning we take a sneak peek of the future. It encompasses looking into the future, to analyze and predict it so that the organization can face future challenges effectively.

PROCESS OF PLANNING

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• Setting up of the objectives– In the planning function manager begins with setting up of objectives because all the policies, procedures, and methods are framed for achieving objectives only.

• Developing Premises– It refer to making assumptions regarding the future. Premises are the base on which plans are made.

• Listing the various alternatives for achieving the objectives– After setting up of objectives the manager make a list of alternatives through which the organization can achieve its objectives.

• Evaluation of different alternatives– After making the list of various alternatives, the manager differentiates the alternatives on the basis of positive & negative aspects. After this the manager starts eliminating the alternatives with more of negative aspect and the one with the maximum positive aspect is selected as best alternative.

• Selecting an alternative– The best alternative is selected.

• Implementing the plan– The managers prepare or draft the main and supportive plans on paper. For implementing the plans, the managers start communicating the plans to all the employees very clearly because the employees actually have to carry on the activities according to the specification of plans.

• Follow up– The managers monitor the plan carefully while it is implemented.

TYPES OF PLANNING

1. Strategic Planning– Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, and strengthen operations. It determines where an association is going over the next year or more and how it’s going to get there.

A strategic plan is a document used to communicate with the association the association’s goals, the actions needed to achieve those goals and all of the other critical elements developed during the planning exercise.

In other words, we can say that strategic planning evaluates and understands our unique capabilities (core competencies), market opportunities, competitors, market dynamics, customer segment profitability and other key data points to develop strategic choices.

The goal is to choose a strategy of ‘where to play and how to win’: what markets will serve (which customers, which geographies, etc.) and what will be our main competitive advantage behind which we will focus our efforts to differentiate, this is our strategy.

Once we have our strategy our work on our plan. The plan is a document that outlines a set of co-dependent activities, with dates, resources, people responsible, budgets, etc. All these activities should support the strategy.

The plan must outline specific goals and milestones. Goals must be SMART- specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound. A plan without a strategy is a list of activities with no clear goal. A strategy without a plan is a dream.

2. Tactical Planning– Tactical Planning is more concrete and aligned towards smaller steps and a shorter time span along the journey. They include best practices, concrete plans, and resources.

A tactician is the one who puts intent the strategy to action. And a strategist is a person who formulates a plan of action that needs to be implemented.

A tactician does not or cannot wait for such a long term and looks for small or big, but immediate victories by spotting the opportunities.

Tactics work in short run, before the opponents realize what is happening. Similar tactics may not work again and again. The real beauty of a tactic is that it was not thought before, suddenly appears and you may lose the opportunity if you do not utilize it.

3. Contingency Planning– Contingency planning relates to creating a response to an unlikely event with highly catastrophic consequences.  A contingency plan is a plan devised for an outcome other than in the usual (expected) plan.

Of course, what comprises a catastrophic consequence is something that is context-sensitive, but let’s call it something that deals with massive loss of people, infrastructure damage, or other forms of severe disruption.

4. Operational Planning – Operational planning is the building blocks that we need to get accomplish the long term planning. Operational plans should establish the activities and budgets for each part of the organization for the next upcoming years.

They link the strategic plan with the activities the organization will deliver and the resources required to deliver them.

An operational plan draws directly from agency and program strategic plans to describe agency and program missions and goals, program objectives, and program activities. Operational plans should be prepared by the people who will be involved in implementation.

Operational plans should contain- clear objectives, activities to be delivered, quality standards, desired outcomes, staffing and resource requirements, implementation of timetables, a process for monitoring progress.

SCOPE OF PLANNING

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Planning provide a future course of action. Such course of action may be repetitive or non repetitive operations. According to the nature and use of planning the scope of planning can be extended in various business fields- whether it is financial area, personnel area or marketing area.

The other way to look at the scope of planning is objective setting, standing plans and matter plans. Objective Plan is basic plans. It is the starting point of planning process.

Standing Plan is the guide to action in solving reoccurring problems. On the other hand, Master Plan indicates the short term or single use plan. Thus, scope of planning is very wide.

So, that is all for today guys see you in our next blog. If you like our article please doesn’t forget to share with others.

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Regards

Grooming Urban.

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