Planning

Management is commonly described as the performance of five interrelated functions — planning, organising, staffing, directing, and controlling — carried out continuously so that an organisation moves from where it is to where it wants to be. Planning is the first and most fundamental of these, because every other function depends on what planning decides.

Planning is the process of deciding in advance what is to be done, when it is to be done, how it is to be done, and who is to do it. It bridges the gap between where an organisation stands today and where it wants to reach, by mapping out a course of future action.

Features of planning:

• Focuses on achieving objectives — planning always begins with, and is directed at, the objectives the organisation wants to reach.
• Primary function — it is performed first, because organising, staffing, directing and controlling are all carried out to achieve the plan already made.
• Pervasive — planning is done at every level of management, though the nature and scope differ (top management plans broad, long-term policy; lower management plans day-to-day operations).
• Continuous process — plans are made for a definite period, and once that period ends, new plans have to be made based on new requirements and future conditions — planning never stops.
• Futuristic — planning involves looking ahead and preparing for future events, based on forecasting.
• Involves decision-making — planning involves selecting the best possible alternative from among several available courses of action.
• A mental exercise — planning requires application of the mind, imagination, foresight and sound judgement rather than mere guesswork.

Importance/limitations of planning (brief): planning provides direction, reduces the risks of uncertainty, reduces overlapping and wasteful activities, promotes innovative ideas, facilitates decision-making, and establishes standards for controlling. Its limitations include: it can lead to rigidity if followed too mechanically, may not work well in a rapidly changing environment, involves huge costs of time and money, and does not guarantee success by itself.

This chapter's five-function framework of management — the same core set every management or commerce syllabus in India, including CBSE Business Studies, is built around — is standard management theory; the treatment here is TN's own, worked through with TN-relevant examples.