CHAPTER 3: PLANNING TECHNICAL ABILITIES

I) NATURE OF PLANNING
• To minimize mistakes in decision-making, planning is undertaken.
• Provides methodical way of achieving desired results.
• Serves as a useful guide.

II) PLANNING
▪ Is the conscious, systematic process of making decisions about goals and
activities that an organization will pursue in the future.
▪ Selecting the best course of action so that the desired result may be
achieved.
“The management function that involves anticipating future trends
and determining the best strategies and tactics to achieve
organizational objectives.”
~Nickels
“The selection and sequential ordering of tasks required to achieve an
organizational goal.”
~Aldag and Stearns
“Deciding what will be done, who will do it, where, when and how it
will be done, and the standards to which it will be done.”
~Cole and Hamilton
III) VARIOUS MANAGEMENT LEVELS
1) Top Management – Strategic Planning
The company considers its objectives and current resources.
Examples: President, Chief Executive Officer, etc.
Duration: One to ten years.

2) Middle Management – Intermediate Planning

Determining the contributions that subunits can make with allocated
resources.
Examples: Functional Managers, Department Heads, etc.
Duration: Six months to two years.

3) Lower Management – Operational Planning

Determining how specific tasks can be done.
Examples: Unit Managers, First Line Supervisors, etc.
Duration: One week to one year.

IV) THE PLANNING PROCESS

1) Setting organizational, divisional, or unit goals
2) Developing strategies or tactics to reach those goals.
3) Determining resources needed, and;
4) Setting standards.
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 V) TYPES OF PLANNING
▪ FUNCTIONAL AREA PLANS
▪ PLANS WITH TIME HORIZON
▪ PLANS ACCORDING TO FREQUENCY OF USE

VI) FUNCTIONAL AREA PLANS

1) Marketing Plan
This is the written document or blueprint for implementing and
controlling an organization’s marketing activities related to a particular
marketing strategy.
2) Production Plan
This is a written document that states the quantity of output a
company must produce in broad terms and by product family.
3) Financial Plan
It is a document that summarizes the current financial situation of the
firm, analyzes financial needs, and recommends a direction for financial
activities.
4) Human Resource Management Plan
It is a document that indicates the human resource needs of company
detailed in terms of quantity & quality and based on the requirements of the
company’s strategic plan.

VII) PLANS WITH TIME HORIZON

1) Short-Range Plans
These are plans intended to cover a period of less than one year. First-
line supervisors are mostly concerned with these plan.
2) Long-Range Plans
These are plans covering a time span of more than one year. These
are mostly undertaken by middle and top management.

VIII) PLANS ACCORDING TO FREQUENCY OF USE

1) Standing Plans
These are plans that are used again and again, and they focus on
managerial situations that recur repeatedly.
Classifications of Standing Plans:
a) Policies – they are broad guidelines to and managers at every
level in making decisions about recurring situation or function.
b) Procedures – they are plans that describe the exact series of
actions to be taken in a given situation.
c) Rules – they are statements that either require or forbid a
certain action.
2) Single-Use Plans
These plans are specifically developed to implement courses of action
that are relatively unique and are unlikely to be repeated.

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 Classifications of Single-Use Plans:
a) Budget – according to Weston and Brigham, is “a plan which
sets forth the projected expenditure for a certain activity and
explains where the required funds will come from.”
b) Program – is a single-use plan designed to coordinate a large
set of activities.
c) Project – is a single-use plan that is usually more limited in
scope than a program and is sometimes prepared to support a
program.

IX) MAKING PLANNING EFFECTIVE

Planning is done so that some desired results may be achieved. At times,
however failure in planning occurs.
Planning may be made successful if the following are observed.
1) Recognize the planning barriers
2) Used of aids to planning.

X) THE PLANNING BARRIERS (PLUNKET AND ATTNERS)

1) Manager’s inability to plan.
2) Improper planning process.
3) Lack of commitment to the planning process.
4) Improper information.
5) Focusing on the present at the expense of future.
6) Too much reliance on the planning department.
7) Concentrating on only the controllable variables.

XI) AIDS TO PLANNING

1) Gather as much information as possible
2) Develop multiple source of information.
3) Involve others in the planning process.

XII) SUMMARY
▪ Technical activities like other activities, require effective planning i.e., if
objectives and goals are to be realized.
▪ A plan is a methodological way of achieving results.
▪ Planning is undertaking at various management levels.
▪ Various steps are required in the planning process depending on the
management level.
▪ Plans may be classified in terms of functional areas time horizon, and
frequency of used.
▪ Plans consist of various parts that the engineer must be familiar with.
▪ Plan can be made effective by recognizing the planning barriers and making
used of aids to planning.

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