VI.

Project Planning and Development

Objectives:
1. Discuss planning concepts.
2. Discuss the factors affecting planning.
3. Prepare a project plan

Planning
 Integrating a framework within which each of the functional plans may be tied together
and an over-all plan is developed for the entire organization (Acc. To George Steiner)
 May be viewed for 4 concepts:
Conceived as one dealing with futurity of present decisions indicating the
observation that current decisions are made in the light of their long-range
consequences. It also signifies that future alternatives open to an organization are
investigated and carefully determined which are the basis upon which decisions are
made regarding preferred alternatives.
Considered a process which establishes objectives, defines strategies, policies and
sequences of events to achieve desired objectives. Planning in this sense defines the
organization for implementing the planning processes and equally important,
insures an over-all review as well as evaluation of performance as feedback.
Philosophy applied to business. It is a system of thought and explains basic
problems and supplies the basis for an intelligent approach to their solution.
Planning is an attitude of state of mind, a way of thinking - that project into the
future or "look ahead" with hope an optimism.
May be viewed in terms of structure, that is long - range in character. This consists
of development of a comprehension and reasonably uniform program of plans for
the business company covering a long period of time.

Definition
 Provides a framework for organizing resources, structuring a firm, and controlling
activities.
 It is a formal process of:
Choosing an organizational mission and over-all objectives for both short-term
and the long-run.
Devising the divisional departmental and individual objectives based on
organizational objectives.
Choosing strategies and tactics to achieve those objectives.
Deciding on the allocation of resources to various objective strategies and
tactics.
 Not all plans succeed. One major reason is the inability to provide the plans with
considerate degree of flexibility for the purpose of coping with uncertainty.
 A good plan must not be rigid but rather flexible in order that it will not lose its
purpose in case of unexpected developments.
 No matter how good a plan is, it cannot guarantee the success of any business.
Relevance
 Without planning, many managers enviably suffer from shortsightedness. They
might do their work everyday but they wouldn't be ready for changed conditions.
 It also becomes important because of shifting time dimension. That's why planning
is utilized for these objectives:
To off-set uncertainty and change.
 Know that the future is not certain; the further are the project in the
future, the more difficult it is to make decisions.
 Planning allows the organization to..
 Determine the constraints
 Specify the objectives
 Select the number of options
 Monitor and control the implementation
To focus attention on objectives.
 Planning is directed towards achieving objectives.
 In this way, it unifies the activities of the different parts of an
organization to act as one party.
To gain economical and efficient operation.
 Planning minimizes costs.
 Its emphasis is on efficient and effective operations and consistency of
procedures and methods.
To facilitate control.
 Managers cannot always check on the accomplishments or failures of
their subordinates. It is important to have goals against which to
measure the performance of people and units.

Guidelines for Good Planning

These are the most repeated principles and guidelines to ensure good planning:
1. A plan should have specific objectives.
 It should be clear about what it intends to accomplish.
 It is important therefore that much attention to develop in defining the
results of the plans.
A good plan should facilitate action.
 A plan without action remains a piece of paper, a figment of the
imagination or a statement of aspirations potentially alive but inactive
and dormant.
 Good plans lead to good actions.
If many people are involved in planning, coordination and communication
become very crucial.
 There is a need, therefore, for constant communication and revision of
plans to arrive at realistic target.
Planning is the first function of management prior to the functions of
organizing, directing and controlling. It is involved in all other functions.
 Good plans are plans that may be constantly be improved, redrafted and re-
planned.
 Improvement, redrafting and re-planning recognize the reality that many
of the basic assumptions upon which a plan is based may change as
environmental factors of resources also changed as environmental
factors or resources also change.
Planning may be delegated to a formal planning staff.
 Or may be a full time job of planning officer, outside consultant or an
officer and employee themselves.
All plans are tentative. They are never final.
 Good plans should be flexible.
 As circumstances change an environmental factor may require totally ne
approaches after one or several years. New technology merge.
 Alternative course or action should always be considered and made ready
for emergency situation or crisis.
Factors affects planning
Conditions.
 In spite of dynamic nature of most businesses, they are nevertheless
susceptible to marked changes and development so much so that if they are
unable to meet and sold them, many aspects of its operations may become
seriously impaired.
Time factor.
 In planning, the executive face a span of time which to carry out the plans into
execution.
 The time aspect has a number of phases such as the following:
Time available to establish a plan before putting it into effect.
The time when the plan must take effect.
The time interval that must be provided in the plan.
The time allowed for revising or modifying the plan.
Resources available.
 The best plan would be unproductive of good results in the absence of
available resources that the business enterprise need for its continuous
operation.
 A lack of raw materials from one time to another could cause a lag in
production just as the business could lose the market.
Skills and attitudes of management.
 One of the common causes behind the failure of planning as a process and
moreover, as a function of management in the absence of total involvement
on the part of all levels in the planning process.
Political, social and environmental conditions.
 In a country which does not sanction the existence of private free enterprise,
most planning is done by the government.
  In the light of intelligent thinking in management-labor relations, many laws
have been enacted by various law-making bodies in the world where labor is
vested with certain rights and accordingly protected by the government.
 Promotion and protection of the welfare of the people through an
improvement of the social and economic conditions of the community is also
not overlooked.
Physical facilities.
 Modern production is anchored on the better use of existing plans and
equipment through improved science and technology.
 Manpower requirement are duly considered in an organizational plan of
organizations, the same is true with physical facilities that are needed for such
purpose.
Collection and analysis of data.
 Planning depends for its effectiveness on the quality and quantity of data
involve in the planning process. Such information of date must be carefully
organized, arranged and properly evaluated.

PLANNING PROCESS
 Planning is a multipurpose process. These stages like the management functions, are
visible isolation since most managers have several projects going at any given time. Some
organizations do have formal planning.

Scan and analyze the environment

 The SWOT remains a popular method of looking at organization's current strength
and weakness and its potential opportunities and threats.
 Strengths and weaknesses refer to factors that are internal to the
organization.
 Opportunities and threats are factors that are external.
 The internal environment consists of:
 Limited resources capital,
 Technology, and
 Skilled personnel
 The external environment relates to:
 Political condition
 Legal condition
 Economic condition
 Social condition
 Cultural condition
 Competition
SWOT
 a key tool to strategic planning process which can be a useful approach to planning
 Strengths
 Internal positive aspects that are under control upon which you may capitalize
in planning.
  Weaknesses
 It is seeing what you could improve
 It refers to internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you
may plan to improve.
 Opportunities
 It refers to positive external conditions that you do not control but of which
you can plan to take advantage of.
 Threats
 Refers to negative external condition that you do not control but they affect
and of which you may be able to lessen.
 Using this analysis, we can develop a plan that takes into consideration many
different internal and external factors and maximize the potentials of the strengths
and opportunities while minimizing the impact of the weaknesses and threats.

Internal Factors External

Factors
Positive Strengths Opportunities
Negative Weaknesses Threats
Diagram of SWOT Analysis

Staffing
 For the performance of the staffing function to be effective, it has to be aided by
certain standards.
 The main products of this stage are human resources policies and program plans.
 As the initial activity of staffing, planning involves:
 Human resource forecasting
 Job analysis
 Policies and program formulation.

The Concept of a Project

 A project is created to address a specific concern, the need or concern usually requires
immediate attention,
 It is undertaken to solve an existing or potential problem and/or take advantage of a rare
opportunity that present itself.
 The design of a project has well-defined outputs that are directly linked to a particular
problem, need or concerns.
 A project follow a growth and development pattern that helps systemize and organize all
the components, like resources, efforts and activities.

Phases in the Project Life

Conception phase
Formation and approval phase
Start-up phase
 Production phase
Post Production and Completion phase

 For the purpose of uniformity and evaluation of the project plan, the following format in
matrix form may be used.

Title of Project
Goals

Area of Objectives Strategies Persons Time Budget Expected

Concern Involved Frame Outcome

Format of Detailed Project Proposal

Part I. BASIC INFORMATION

Title of the Project

Researcher(s)

Name and Signature

Designation
Institution
Address
Tel. No.
Fax No.
E-mail Address

Implementing Agency
1. Lead Agency
2. Collaborating Agency(ies)

4. Project Duration
5. Project Location
6. Total Budget Requested

Part II. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

I. Rationale
II. Objectives

III. Review of Related Literature

IV. Methodology
 Specify the project component (if applicable)
 Should contain the details of the project so that it can be evaluated whether the methods
are feasible and will achieve the objectives of the proposal.
 The following are recommended to be included:
 Factors of implementation (variable)
 Treatments to be used and lay-out
 Procedures; experimental design, replications, characteristics of experimental units
(sites, number, area, etc.)
 Statistical analysis
 Specific management of the project (this includes specific features about the
management of the project)
 Cultural practices
 Work Plan Schedule
 Budgetary Requirements
 Project summary