Sunday, January 24, 2010

Planning

Planning is the management function of anticipating the future and the conscious determination of a future course of action to achieve the desired results. A plan us a blue print of the course of action to be followed in future. Planning involves forecasting because in order to plan the future course of action it is essential to anticipate the future. While planning a manager prepares a map of the future, sets the goals to be achieved or the desirable results and decides the activities required to accomplish those results. Planning consists of both problem solving and decision-making. It involves determination of objectives and the means of achieving them.

Factors involved in Planning
Contribution to objectives:
Every major and derivative plan should contribute positively towards accomplishment of enterprise objectives. This principle is derived from the vision of the enterprise.

Efficiency of Planning:
The efficiency of a plan is measured buy the amount it contributes to objectives minus the costs and other undesirable consequences involved in the formulation and operation of the plans. This factor stresses upon economical use of individual effort to achieve group goals.

Primary of Planning:
A manager can hardly perform other managerial functions without a road map of plans to guide him. Planning is the primary requisite of other management functions because these functions are designed to support the accomplishment of enterprise objective.  

Planing Premises:
The main deficiency of panning arises from poorly structured plans. A well-coordinated structure of plans can be developed only when managers throughout the organization understand and agree to utilize consistent planning premises. 

Policy of framework:
A consistent and effective framework of enterprise plans can be deveoped if the basic policies that guide thinking in decisions are expressed clearly and are understood by managers who prepare the plans. The decisions which lead to plans cannot be accurately focused on enterprise objectives without framework of policies.

Timing of Plan:
When the plans are structured to provide an appropriately timed, inter-meshed network of derivatives and supporting program, the plans can contribute effectively and efficiently towards the attainment of enterprise objectives. Both premises and policies are useless without proper timing.

Limiting Factor:
While choosing from among alternatives the planner should focus on factors, which are critical to the attainment of the desired foal. This will help in selecting the most favorable alternative.

Commitment:
Logical planning should cover a time necessary to forecast the fulfillment of commitment involved in a decision. This is necessary to make reasonably sure of meeting commitments.

Flexibility:
This principles deals with the ability to change which is built into plans. he risk of loss due to unexpected event scan be reduced by building flexibility into plans.

Competitive Strategies:
While formulating plans, a manager should take into account the plans of rivals or competitors will do in the same situation.
     

   



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