This document presents information on the concept of planning and its methods from a group presentation. It defines planning as setting goals and choosing actions to achieve them, and discusses its key characteristics as a process, future-oriented, prevasive, goal-focused, decision-oriented, and efficiency-oriented. The document also covers the importance of planning in reducing uncertainty, focusing goals, better coordination, efficiency promotion, environmental adaptation, and commitment. Finally, it discusses some limitations and different methods of planning including top-down, bottom-up, participative, and team methods.

1. A Presentation on Concept of
PLANNING and its method
Presented by:
 Bishow Bandhu Khadka
 Dinesh Bista
 Jeevan Chapagain
 Nabin Jamkatel
 Rajiv Gupta

2. Planning
▪ Definition
Planning is the process of setting goals and choosing the actions to
achieve those goals.
It attempts to define the future road map of an organization.
Planning takes organization to where it wants to be.
It is the prime instrument for directing efforts.
According to Ricky Griffin “ Planning is setting an organization’s goal
and deciding how best to achieve them.”

3. Planning bridges “Strategic gap”
Strategic gap is the difference between the existing state and the desired
state
Planning bridges this gap as follows:
Existing
State
Strategic
Gap
Desired
Future State
Planning

4. Planning has primacy in management
functions
Management
Organizing
Staffing
Leading
Controlling
Planning

5. Characteristics
▪ Process
o Planning is a process.
o It is a step-by-step systematic way of doing things.
o It involves creative thinking and imagination.
 Future-oriented
o Planning anticipates future opportunities and threats.
o It gives direction to the organization.
o It deals with incertainty.

6. ▪ Prevasiveness
o Planning is the function of every manager.
o Its nature and scope differ according to level of manager.
o Top manager set mission and objectives.
o Lower managers execute the plans.
 Goal-focused
o It sets goal and selects actions to achieve them.
o It entails commitment of resources to selected actions.
o Not based on hunch or guesswork.
o Actions are selected from among alternatives.

7. ▪ Decision-oriented
o Involves decision at all levels of management.
o Involves interdependent set of decisions.
o Coordinates various activities through decisions.
 Efficiency-oriented
o Efficiency means greater output at lower costs.
o Alternatives are evaluated on the basis of efficiency.

8. IN SUMMARY
Characteristics of Planning
Process Future
Oriented
Prevasivene
ss
Goal
Focused
Decision
Oriented
Efficiency
oriented

9. Importance
 Uncertainty Reduction
Predetermines future targets and actions
Forces manager to think ahead, anticipate change, consider the
impact of change and develop appropriate responses
Provides roadmap fro future and avoids problem in future
 Goal Focus
Defines goals and determines courses of action to achieve them
Planning facilitates decision making
It establishes priorities and gives direction

10. ▪ Better Coordination
Facilitates better mobilization, allocation and coordination of resources
Communication about plan avoids confusion
Integrated thinking is promoted
 Efficiency Promotion
 Facilitates efficient use of resources
It is a rational approach for goal achievement
Helps to do job correctly
Reduces cost by eliminating waste and avoiding duplication in efforts

11.  Environmental Adaptation
Identifies environmental opportunities
Helps organizations adapt to change
Encourages innovation and creativity
Change management becomes effective
 Commitment
Ensures commitment of managers and employees
Facilitates internalization of individual goals with organizational goals
Commits resources for the future periods
Encourages sense of involvement and team spirit

12.  Control
Control is not possible without planning
Sets standards of performance for control
Actual performance is compared with planned targets to make
corrections

13. Limitation
▪ Does not work in a Dynamic Environment
Planning is based on the anticipation of future happenings
Future is uncertain and dynamic, so the future anticipations are not always
true
Planning as the basis of success is like a leap in the dark.
 Reduces Creativity
All the activities connected with the attainment of objectives of the
organization are pre-determined.
Employees do not think about appropriate ways of discovering new
alternatives
According toTerry, “Planning strangulates the initiative of the employees
and compels them to work in an inflexible manner.”

14. ▪ Involves Huge Costs
Planning becomes meaningful only after traversing a long path
During this entire period the managers remain busy in collecting a lot
of information and analyzing it
In this way, when so many people remain busy in the same activity,
the organization is bound to face huge costs
 Time-consuming Process
Planning is a long process so it cannot face sudden emergencies
Sudden emergencies can be in the form of some unforeseen problem
and there has been no planning for all these situations beforehand
and which now requires immediate decision.
In such a situation, if the manager thinks of completing the planning
process before taking some decision, it may be possible that the
situations may worsen or the chance of earning profit may slip away

15.  Does Not Guarantee Success
 Sometimes the managers think that planning solves all their problems
 Such thinking makes them neglect their real work and the adverse effect of such an
attitude has to be faced by the organization
 In this way, planning offers the managers a false sense of security and makes them
careless
 Internal rigidity
 Internal rigidity may be related to organizational and human psychology policy,
procedure and capital investment which create problem in the process of
implementation
 Staff may not like the changes that may occur frequently in the working procedure.
So rigidity may create problem in planning.

16. Methods Of Planning
▪ Top-down Method
It is top management driven
Top manager determine goals and formulate plans
Plans are communicated with middle and lower level managers for
implementation
Used in highly centralized organization
Top managers only have role in planning

17.  Bottom-up Method
Driven by middle and lower level managers
Plans are formulated at operational level
Top management reviews and approves the plan
Decentralized approach to planning
Those responsible for implementation are involved in planning

18.  Participative Method
 It is a blend of top-down and bottom-up method
Top management provides broad premises, parameters and
guidelines for planning to middle and lower level management
Middle and lower level management formulates the plans and
forwards them to top management
Management By Objective(MBO) is its example
This method provides flexibility in planning
All levels of managers are involved in planning process

19.  Team Method
Job of planning is entrusted to work a team
The members of the team posses multiple skills in planning
Team members can be line manager and staff experts
Team function as a unit
Team prepares draft plans and forward to the top management
Plans are reviewed and finalized by top management

20. Any
Queries???