PLANNING Meaning, Nature and Importance of Planning Planning is 'task number one' of management.

It is the determination of a course of action to achieve a desired result. Planning concentrates on setting and achieving objectives of an organisation. It is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it. Planning bridges the gap from where we are to where we want to go. Planning makes it possible to occur which would not otherwise happen. It is an intellectual process; it is characterized as the process of thinking before doing. It is cent per cent mental work. It requires a mental predisposition to - think before acting, to act in the light of facts rather than of guesses, and generally speaking, to do things in an orderly way. Planning function of management precedes all other managerial functions. Without setting the goals to be reached-and line of actions to be followed, there is nothing to organise, to direct, or to control in the organisation. Only after having made his plans can the Manager organise, staff, direct and control. Planning actually is the foundation of management. The vital supporting columns of' organising', 'actuating' and 'controlling' upon 'planning' ; and all these combined together make up the bridge or Process of Management'.

Planning Governs the survival, progress and prosperity of any organization in a competitive and ever-changing environment. Further, the planning function is performed by managers at every level of management. However one should not induct from this view that planning is an isolated activity required in the beginning only. It is really a continuous and unending process to keep the organization as a going concern and other functions are also performed simultaneously. DEFINITIONS: Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. It involves the selection of objective policies, procedures and programs from among alternatives. A plan is a pre-determined course of action to achieve a

specified goal. It is a statement of objectives to be achieved by certain means in the future. In short, it is a blue-print for action. The following definitions of planning are quite illuminating David Cleland and William King: "Planning is the process of thinking through and making explicit the strategy, actions and relationships necessary to accomplish an overall objective or purpose." George R. Terry: "Planning is the selecting and relating of facts and the making and using of assumptions regarding the future in the visualization and formulation of proposed activities believed necessary to achieve desired results." Louis A. Allen: "Management planning involves the development of forecasts, objectives, policies, programs, procedures, schedules and budgets." Billy E. Goetz : "Planning is fundamentally choosing and a planning problem arises only when an alternative course of action is discovered." Theo Haimann: "Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. When a manager plans, he projects a course of action for the future, attempting to achieve a consistent, coordinated structure of operations aimed at the desired results." Koontz 0' Donnell : "Planning is an intellectual process, the conscious determination of courses of action, the basing of decisions on purpose, acts and considered estimates." George B. Galloway: "Planning is the opposite of improvising. In simple words, it is organized foresight plus corrective hindsight Conceived as a process, planning embraces a series of steps: (i) the determination of objectives to be sought, (ii) research to understand the problem, (iii) the discovery of alternative solutions, (iv) policy-making choosing between alternatives, including the frequent choice of doing nothing, (v) the detailed execution of the chosen alternative known in physical planning as layout or design." 1 (ford and Bealty: "Planning is the thinking process, the organized foresight, the vision based on fact and experience that is required for intelligent action." CHARACTERSTICS OF PLANNING On the basis of the above definitions, the following characteristics of planning can easily be identified: Planning is very closely associated with the goals or objectives of the organisation. The goals may be express or implied ; however, well defined goals lead to efficiency in planning. Planning is mainly concerned with looking ahead in the future. Forecasting provides the necessary raw material for correct planning. Planning involves the selection of the best alternative. Planning is required at all levels of management. However, its scope and importance increase at successively higher levels.

 Planning is an inter-dependent process; it co-ordinates the activities of various departments, sections and sub-sections. Planning is flexible as it is based on future conditions which too are dynamic. Planning is a continuous and unending process. Planning governs the survival, growth and prosperity of any organisation. NATURE OF PLANNING Certain important elements which describe the nature of planning may be enumerated as below: Planning is goal-oriented. Every plan must contribute in some positive way towards the accomplishment of group objectives. Planning has no meaning without being related to goals; it becomes an empty mental exercise if it does not keep the objectives of the organization in view. Primacy of Planning: Planning pervades all managerial activity; it is the function of every manager. It facilitates organizing, staffing, directing, motivating and controlling. Pervasiveness of Planning: Planning has been described as the most basic of all managerial functions. It is found at all levels of management--top management looks after strategic planning ; middle management is in charge of administrative planning and lower management has to concentrate on operation planning. Planning is directed towards efficient economy and accuracy. In planning, the manager evaluates the alternatives on the basis of efficiency, economy and accuracy. A good plan should not only attain optimal relationship between output but should also bring the greatest deal of satisfaction to those implementing it. Planning aims at Co-ordination. Planning co-ordinates the what, who, how, where and why of planning; without the co-ordination of different activities, one cannot have united and synchronized efforts. A planner cannot overlook the critical factors like money, manpower, materials, machinery and management. These limiting factors must be taken into account while formulating a plan. Elasticity in planning: The process of planning should be adaptable to changing environmental conditions. Planning is an intellectual process and the quality of planning will vary according to the quality of the mind of the manager. Planning involves continuous collection, evaluation and selection of data it involves scientific investigation and analysis of the possible alternative courses of action and the best alternative becomes the' plan'. Planning is looking ahead and control is looking back but both are inseparable--the Siamese twins of management. Unplanned action cannot be controlled. Any attempt to control without plans would be meaningless.

 Problems of planning. The basic questions that are to be answered in framing a plan are seven. (i) Why is the particular action necessary? It relates to the purpose of choosing a particular course of action. (ii) What is to be done'? It indicates the different stages of the activity, their detailed analysis, the sequential arrangements and so on. (iii) Where will it be done? (iv) When will it be done? (v) Who will do it? (vi) With which will it be done? and (vii) How will it be done? IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING Planning is an orderly approach to the task of management. In the absence of planning, business decisions would become random, ad hoc choices, like a pilot who has started without knowing whether he wished to fly to Bombay, Calcutta, Madras or Delhi. As a managerial function planning is important due to the following reasons To manage by objectives. All the activities of an organisation are designed to achieve certain specified objectives. However, planning makes these objectives more concrete and tangible by focusing attention on them. To offset uncertainty and change. Future is always full of uncertainties and changes, However, some of the uncertainties tend changes can be predicted on the basis of forecast. Thus, planning foresees the future and makes the necessary provision for it. Even where the future is certain for sometime, planning is necessary to evaluate the alternate courses of action and determine the ones leading to the continuous growth and prosperity of the organisation: To secure economy in operation. Planning involves the selection of most profitable course of action that would lead to the best result at the minimum costs. To help in co-ordination. Co-ordination is, indeed, the essence of management, the planning is the base for it. Without planning it is not possible to co-ordinate the different activities of an organisation. To make control effective. The controlling function of management relates to the comparison of the planned performance with the actual performance. In the absence of plans, a manager will have no standards for controlling other's performance. In short, planning without control would be a fruitless exercise and control without planning is impossibility. To increase organisational effectiveness. Mere efficiency in organisation is not important; it should also lead to productivity effectiveness. Planning enables the manager to measure organisational effectiveness in the context of the stated objectives take further actions in this direction. FEATURES OF A GOOD PLAN According to L.F. Urwick, 'Good Plan' is that which (i) is based on a clearly defined Objective, (ii) is simple, (iii) provides for a proper analysis and classification of actions, i.e., which establishes standards, (v) is flexible, (v) the and the and

is balanced, and (vi) uses available resources to the utmost before creating new authorities and new resources. The best test of effective planning is its realistic and viable nature. A good plan must be pragmatic and must lead the organisation forward on the path of progress and prosperity. A good plan open up new avenues, new ways of doing things and reveals specific opportunities previously unknown to the planner. ADVANTAGES OF PLANNING The advantages of planning may be summarised below: 1. The business objectives can be easily secured through plans because planning enables a purposeful and orderly set of activities instead of random action it provides co-ordinated efforts and reduces risks and uncertainties. 2. Planning facilitates the process of decision-making. 3. Planning helps the management to implement future programmes in a systematic manner so that the management may get the maximum benefit out of the programmes chalked out. it enables all the activities to be conducted in an orderly and coordinated manner to achieve the common goals of the organisation. 4. With the rapid growth of technological development, it is essential for a manager to keep abreast of the latest technology, otherwise the products are likely to get obsolete. Planning helps in this process. 5. Planning indirectly leads to large-scale economies by avoiding waste of men, money, materials and machinery. 6. Planning leads to budgeting and budgeting leads to budgetary control; thus the success of budgetary control depends considerably on effective planning. It is at the planning stage that the future prospects of an undertaking are taken care of. 7. Planning encourages the sense of involvement and team spirit. Planl1ed targets provide a basis upon which good performances can be rewarded arid poor performances can be taken care of. 8. Planning is the essence of all management activities: once planning is done well, other activities automatically follow. 9. A greater utilization of the resources and available facilities can be made because of planning. This reduces costs and results in higher profitability. The managerial process will go through many cycles before the desired objectives are realized. Hence, it is advisable to look at the plan function as a continuous function of the manager. l. UTILIZATIONS OF PLANNING Some of the limitations of business planning are as following: (1) it has can consider as a time consuming and expensive deface. Further, the framing If plans involves money, energy and also risk without saving any guarantee as to the realization of assured goals. (2) due to the heavy cost of planning and the risk involved in it, similar business concerns which

are short of capital and which expect quick results cannot afford to have a planning programme. (3) Planning makes the entire organizational setup extremely rigid. (4) Planning leads to probabie results and not assured goals. (5) Last, but not the least, machinery of planning cannot be free from bias, forecasting methods, statistical data supplied, etc., are all inaccurate and the results of operation research cannot be applied to all cases that-come under planning. (6) In the planning process, the quality of the output is only as good as the quality of input. (7) Tendency towards inflexibility or reluctance to change, once the plans are framed, is another limitation of planning. (8) Planning encourages a false sense of security against risk or uncertainty. (9) Emergencies demand on-the-spot decision, but planning delays it. (10) Standing plans demand repetitive operations, but in the absence of such operations, plans lose their significance. In order to avoid the failure of planning, the following suggestions should be kept in mind: (1) avoid serial planning if possible: (2) do not wait to start the second range of planning until the first stage is finished; (3) try to have parallel planning with lots of cross-checking; and (4) see that all plans move forward at the same time. PLANNING IS ECONOMIC Planning is economic in the sense that it minimizes costs. Planning leads to systematic, orderly and purposeful working of an enterprise. All efforts are directed towards a desired result, haphazard approaches are minimized, activities are coordinated and duplications are avoided. Minimum time is necessary for the completion of all planned activities because only the necessary work is done. Facilities are used to their best advantage and guesswork is eliminated. In this connection, it shall not be out of place to quote F. G. Moore who said:" ... When we say planning is economic we do not mean to overlook its costs. Too much and too detailed planning is wasteful. You can't afford to put every minor detail down on paper. When you plan your vocation, you probably decide where you will go and when you will be at certain places, but you don't plan what you will eat for breakfast every day. And so it is with business plans. They need to cover the 'big specifics' but every minor detail. Nor can you afford to have middle and lower level men spending all their time in planning. They would never get their day's work done. And even top men never have enough time to plans as thoroughly as they would like. You have to get on with less than perfect plans and less than complete plans." It should also be noted that a manager should plan in good times as well as in bad times, More often than not, managers do not pay any heed towards planning during periods of prosperity, Due to their successful operations in good times, they are lulled into the belief that they have a sixth sense and intuitive perception with which they can always succeed. And when the business falls on bad times, they attribute their poor results to circumstances beyond their control According to Haimannn, "Realistically speaking, it is true that under such circumstances both success and failure are the result of conditions beyond the managers control. However, these consequences could be mitigated if the manager had developed plans enabling the enterprise to capitalize fully on good times and to minimize the efforts of bad times." Moreover, it is also essential that both long-range and

short-range planning should be Integrated and coordinated. PLANNING LEVELS The planning function has to be performed at all the three levels of management right from apex or top management down to the first line managers, viz., foremen or supervisors. In participative management even the operatives take keen interest in planning their work. Of course, the higher one goes in the management structure, the more time will be spent on the planning functions. The planning functions of the different managers in the hierarchy of management may be outlined as below: TOP MANAGEMENT Apex or top management has to devote much more time to planning and policy making. It normally undertakes strategic planning covering a time span of one to five or even ten years. Strategic planning mostly relates 10 resource mobilization It is also concerned with the strategies or courses of action, programs, policies, procedures and standards that will determine the procurement, use and disposition of these resources, In short, top management is concerned with strategic plans which are long-range plans. MIDDLE MANAGEMENT Middle management has to formulate short-term and/or tactical plans and devotes relatively less time to planning and more time to co-ordination and communication. It is concerned with administrative or tactical planning that supports the strategic planning. Specific plans for the different areas of management discipline, such as, personnel, production and marketing are implemented by middle management. Examples of administrative or tactical planning are: Research and Development, Marketing, Manufacturing, Finance etc. Administrative plans are mostly medium- range plans.

LOWER MANAGEMENT Lower management is directly concerned with operational planning. At this level, the first-line managers such as the heads of departments and sections concentrate on planning of daily, weekly and monthly operations. In short, it relates to short-range plans. Typical examples of operational planning are: plans for finished goods inventories to meet current market demands, plans to. Accelerate research project which are behind schedule, plans of routing scheduling and dispatch in production, cash - flow budget,

etc. All operational, plans are concerned with the planning structures and repetitive activities in the ' different department of the organization. American Colonial period, the lamp makes an impressive addition to window, mantelpiece, and end table displays. It has been well received by the public and provided a steady reliable income for Modern Medallion.
Up until 1976, the lamp was sold through specialty and gift shops at a price of $25.95, which meant a sizable profit for the retailers. Then the company decided to offer the lamp as a Bicentennial item and sell it throughout the country through department stores, hardware stores, and furniture stores as well as through the gift shops and specialty outlets. In keeping with the Bicentennial theme, it set a retail price of $17.76 and planned magazine and TV exposure of the product stressing the Bicen tennial theme. Any retailer who attempted to sell the lamp for a higher or lower price would lose the benefit of this advertising since the price was directly connected to the Bicentennial celebration. The lamp was only one of hundreds of items manufactured by Medallion. Other major categories included bronze statuary; commemorative coins' and medals; metal baskets and containers for homes and offices; door latches; drawer handles; and miscellaneous functional and decorative hardware.

References

Allmendinger, Phil and Michael Gunder, 2005, "Applying Lacanian Insight and a Dash of Derridean Deconstruction to Planning's 'Dark Side'," Planning Theory, vol. 4, pp. 87-112. Flyvbjerg, Bent, 1991, Rationalitet og magt (Rationality and Power), vols. 1-2 (Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag). Flyvbjerg, Bent, 1996, The Dark Side of Planning: Rationality and Realrationalitt, in Seymour Mandelbaum, Luigi Mazza, and Robert Burchell, eds., Explorations in Planning Theory (New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research Press) pp. 383-394. Flyvbjerg, Bent, 1998, Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). Flyvbjerg, Bent and Tim Richardson, 2002, "Planning and Foucault: In Search of the Dark Side of Planning Theory," in Philip Allmendinger and Mark Tewdwr-Jones, eds., Planning Futures: New Directions for Planning Theory (London and New York: Routledge), pp. 44-62.

Gunder, Michael, 2003, "Passionate Planning for the Others' Desire: An Agonistic Response to the Dark Side of Planning," Progress in Planning, Vol. 60, no. 3, October, pp. 235-319. Plger, John, 2001, "Public Participation and the Art of Governance," Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 219241. Roy, Ananya, 2008, "Post-Liberalism: On the Ethico-Politics of Planning," Planning Theory, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 92-102. Tang, Wing-Shing, 2000, "Chinese Urban Planning at Fifty: An Assessment of the Planning Theory Literature," Journal of Planning Literature, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 347-366. Yiftachel, Oren, 1995, "The Dark Side of Modernism: Planning as Control of an Ethnic Minority," in Sophie Watson and Katherine Gibson, eds., Postmodern Cities and Spaces (Oxford and Cambridge, MA: Blackwell), pp. 216-240. Yiftachel, Oren, 1998, "Planning and Social Control: Exploring the Dark Side," Journal of Planning Literature, vol. 12, no. 4, May, pp. 395-406. Yiftachel, Oren, 2006, "Re-engaging Planning Theory? Towards SouthEastern Perspectives," Planning Theory, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 211222.