Planning involves selecting mission and objectives and the
actions to achieve them; it requires decision making, which is, choosing from
the alternatives available the future courses of action.
Plan thus provides a rational approach to achieve
preselected objectives.
Planning also strongly implies managerial innovation, even
planning and control are inseparable.
Plan can be defined in few steps like:
- Purpose of plan,
- Objective of plan,
- Strategies for completing plan,
- Policies
- Procedures
- Rules,
- Programs
- Budgets,
Purpose of plan:
Purpose identifies the basic task of an organization or
agency or any part of it.
Objective of plan
:
Objectives are the ends towards which the activity is aimed.
Strategies for completing
plan:
A strategy is defined as the determination of the basic long
term objectives of an enterprise and adoption of action and allocation of
resources necessary to achieve those goals.
Policies :
Policies are plans in that they are general statements that
guide in decision making, policies define an area
within which a decision is to be made and ensure that the decision will be
consistent with, and contribute to, an objective. Policies help decide issues
before they become problems.
Procedures :
Procedures are plan that establish a required method of
handling future activities.
Rules :
Rules are usually the simplest type of plan. “Do Not Spit”
is a rule that allow no deviation from a stated course of action.
Programs:
Programs are a complex of goals,
policies, procedures, rules, and task assignments, step to be taken, resources to be
employed, and other elements necessary to carry out a given course of action;
they are usually supported by budgets.
Budgets :
Budget is a statement of expected
result expressed in numerical terms. It can be expressed in financial terms; in
terms of labor-hours, unit of products, machine hours; or nay numerically
measurable terminology,
All Managers should
take a preliminary look at possible future opportunities and see them clearly
and completely , know where they stand in light of their strengths and
weakness, understand what problem they wish to solve and why, and know what
they expect to gain.
Planning requires a realistic diagnosis of the opportunity
situation.
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