Instruction/Delivery:

Planning is a process that involves the setting of the organization’s goals, establishing
strategies for accomplishing those goals and developing plans of actions that managers intend
to use to achieve said organizational goals. Planning is important because it provides direction
to all of the organization’s human resource’ managers and employees, reduced uncertainty and
minimizes wastes of time, effort and resources. Goals are the targets that management desires
to reach while PLANS are the means or actions which management intends to use to achieve
the said goals. Plans are best described in terms of their:

 Comprehensiveness – refers to what extent does plan goes through

 Time Frame – when to achieve the plan
 Specificity – what really the goal of the plan
 Frequency of use – how it is being performed.

Planning can also help to achieve the Vision, Mission and Objectives of the company.
(organization and management pp51-pp52)

Vision – it is commonly shared picture of what organization wants and is committed to become
sometime in the future.
Mission – an enduring purpose of an organization’s existence that distinguishes itself from
others.
Objectives - measurable targets of how to achieve business aims.

Types of Planning

 Strategic Planning – sets the long term direction of the organization in which it wants to
proceed in future.
 Tactical Planning – translate the strategic plans into specific goals for specific parts of
the organizations.
 Operational Planning – translate the tactical plans into specific goals and actions for
small units of the organization.
 Long Term Planning – is of a strategic nature and involves long period say 3 – 5 years.
 Short Term Planning – is usually a plan made for one year.
 Directional Planning – flexible plans that set out general guidelines provide focus, yet
allow discretion in implementation.
 Specific Planning – plans that area clearly defined and leave no room for interpretation.
 Single Use Planning – these plans are derived from the standing plans.
 Standing Plans – are put to use again and again over a long period of time.
Planning at Different Levels

Corporate Level

These corporate-level executives primarily focus on the questions such as:

a. What industries should we get into?

b. What markets should the firm be in?
c. In which business should the corporation invest money?
d. What resources should be allocated to each business?

Business Level

At this level, managers attempt to address questions such as:

a. Who are our direct competitors?

b. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
c. What are our strengths and weaknesses?
d. What advantages do we have over competitors?

Functional Level

Functional managers attempt to address questions such as:

a. What activities does my unit need to perform well in order to meet customer
expectations?
b. What information about competitors does my unit need in order to help the
business compete effectively?

Planning Techniques and Tools

1. Environmental Scanning – the screening of the large amounts of information to

anticipate and interpret changes in the environments
2. Forecasting – an attempt to foretell or predict future trends, events or conditions from
known data and to prepare for the expected changes in business or industry.
3. Benchmarking – the search for the best practices among competitors and non-
competitors that lead to their superior performance.
4. Scheduling – term used for planning time for various activities in an organization.
5. Budgeting – are numerical plans for allocation resources.
6. Gantt Chart – a bar graph with time on the horizontal axis and activities to be
accomplished on the vertical axis.
7. Load Chart – a modified Gantt Chart that lists entire departments or specific resources
on the vertical axis.
Decision Making

This is the process of choosing a specific procedure or course of action from among
several possible alternatives.

Decision Making Process (make a connection with GEMS cycle on pp7 – pp11)

1. Identify Problems – discrepancy between an existing and a desired state

2. Identify the decision criteria – factors that are important to resolving the problem
3. Allocation of weight to criteria
4. Development of alternative
5. Analysis of alternative
6. Selection of alternatives
7. Implementation of the best alternatives
8. Evaluation of decision effectiveness