MGT 3200 Chapter : MGT 3 5
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3.5
MGT 3200
PLANNING
Planning focuses on the future. Management’s responsibility is to prepare the
organization for unseen days ahead. Planning specifies what is to be accomplished in the
future and how it’s to be accomplished. More precisely, the planning function of the
management process includes those managerial activities, which determine objectives
and the appropriate means for achieving those objectives.
Planning is basically applied-problem solving. It is mental work. It is basically a
combination of goal setting and action planning.
Planning involves determining where you are now, determining where you would like to
be in the future, and determining what should be done to reduce the gap between the two.
Therefore, planning is gap-oriented. The gap can be of two types: a problem gap or an
opportunity gap.
NOTE: Planning as an activity is performed best in a quiet location where a manger can
think can reflect with a minimum of interruptions for a couple of hours.
I. THE THREE PURPOSES OF PLANNING.
Its fundamental purpose is to establish and help achieve organizational objectives.
Second, there is the protective or defensive purpose, which is to offset future
uncertainties by reducing the risk surrounding organization’s operations. The third
purpose of planning is affirmative or offensive which entails seeking out and taking
advantage of opportunities to increase organizational success.
II. IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING.
A. ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS.
Planning helps organizations succeed. Studies have shown that organizations that
emphasize planning tend to have higher profits and sales than organizations that do not.
B. SENSE OF UNITY AND DIRECTION.
Planning provides a sense of unity and direction. This shared purpose helps managers to
make decisions for the future within a broader framework. It also enables them to
coordinate and unify their action-achieves coordinated effort.
C. COPING WITH CHANGE.
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Planning helps managers anticipate and prepare for possible future changes. Managers
who plan have more control than managers who do not plan. Thus, planning puts the
manager in a position to affect her future rather than simply accepting it.
D. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
Planning helps develop performance standards. Plans define expected behaviors, and in
management terms, expected behaviors are performance standards. As plans are
implemented throughout an organization, the objectives and courses of action assigned to
each individual and groups are the basis for standards. These standards can be used to
assess actual performance. In some instances, the objectives provide the standards. The
performance of the manager can be assessed in terms of how close that manager’s unit
comes to accomplishing its objectives. Through planning, management derives a
rational, objective basis for performance standards. Without planning, performance
standards are likely to be non-rational and subjective.
E. MANAGERIAL DEVELOPMENT.
Planning provides a basis for managerial development. Planning involves high levels of
intellectual ability. Those who plan must deal with the abstract and uncertain ideas and
information. Managers must think systematically about the present and the future.
Through planning, managers not only develop their ability to think futuristically, but to
the extent that their plans are effective, their motivation to plan in reinforced.
III. RESISTANCE TO PLANNING
A. REASONS WHY MANAGERS RESIST
1. ONE OF MANY FUNCTIONS
Planning is only one of the many functions a manager must perform during his/her busy
day.
2. HARD WORK
Good planning is hard work.
Planning involves high levels of intellectual ability. Those who plan must deal with
abstract and uncertain ideas and information.
Planning involves facing and preparing for the uncertainty of the future.
3. USED TO MEASURE RESULTS.
Planning can be used to measure results (screw-ups or poor performers don’t want this!)
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4. TAKES TIME & IS EXPENSIVE
Planning takes time and managers don’t have a lot of time. It can also be very expensive!
5. LACK OF IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK
Managers prefer to work on immediate problems (i.e., day to day problems) because they
provide instant feedback.
Planning especially long-range planning (5-15 years) involves delayed feedback. At top
management, often times you will not know whether you were successful or not in
planning until 5-10 years later.
6. INVOLVES CHANGE.
Planning involves change and people will resist change for a variety of reasons such as
self-interest and fear of the unknown.
7. FEAR OF FAILURE/LACK OF SELF-CONFIDENCE
Managers sometimes fear failure and/or lack self-confidence and they tend to avoid
planning. This often creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What happens in this case is that the manager waits until the last minute to plan and then
must “throw” something together. Usually this thrown together plan results in less than
satisfactory results and the manager’s expectations are confirmed (i.e., the expectation
that they can’t plan well or their plans will not meet with success). This is an example of
a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Sometimes, this lack of self-confidence and/or fear of failure are due to a lack of planning
skills. If this is the case, then the manager must be trained.
8. NOT REWARDED BY ORGANIZATION
The reward system in the organization may not reward it.
Remember people will do what you pay them to do or they will do what benefits them
(WIFM-What’s in It For Me!).
9. GOES AGAINST “DOER” MENTALITY
Planning involves serious thinking and extensive paperwork. Most managers don’t like
this. Managers tend to be doers not “ivory tower” thinkers and they see themselves in
this way as well.
Document Summary
Management"s responsibility is to prepare the organization for unseen days ahead. Planning specifies what is to be accomplished in the future and how it"s to be accomplished. More precisely, the planning function of the management process includes those managerial activities, which determine objectives and the appropriate means for achieving those objectives. It is basically a combination of goal setting and action planning. Planning involves determining where you are now, determining where you would like to be in the future, and determining what should be done to reduce the gap between the two. The gap can be of two types: a problem gap or an opportunity gap. Note: planning as an activity is performed best in a quiet location where a manger can think can reflect with a minimum of interruptions for a couple of hours. Its fundamental purpose is to establish and help achieve organizational objectives.
