Module 5: Planning

Technical Activities
Understanding the nature of planning
 Provides direction
 Reduces uncertainty
 Minimizes waste and redundancy
 Sets the standards for controlling

Why do planning?
Defining the organization’s goals,
establishing strategies for achieving those
goals, and developing plans to integrate
and coordinate work activities

What is planning?
 Document that outlines how goals are
going to be met

✓What
Some authors state ✓Where
that it also includes ✓When
✓Why
✓Who

What is a plan?
Planning at Various Levels
 Top Management level
-Strategic Planning
 Middle Management Level
– Intermediate Planning
 Lower Management level
-Operational Planning

Planning at Various Levels

 Strategic Planning
- refers to the process of determining
the major goals of the organization
- the whole company is considered

Planning at Various Levels

 Intermediate Planning
- the process of determining the
contributions that subunits can make with
allocated resources
-usually undertaken by the middle
management

Planning at Various Levels

 Operational Planning
- Process of determining how specific
tasks can best be accomplished on time
with available resources
- Responsibility of the lower
management

Planning at Various Levels

Planning at Various Levels
 ✓ Functional Area Plans
✓ Plans with Time Horizon
✓ Plans according to Frequency of Use

Types of Plans
✓ Marketing Plan. Written document or blueprint for
implementing and controlling an organization’s marketing
activities

✓ Production Plan. Written document that states the

quantity of output a company must produce

✓ Financial Plan. Document that summarizes the current

financial situation of the firm, analyses the financial
needs, and recommends a direction for financial activities

✓ Human resource Management Plan. Document that

indicates the human resource needs of a company
detailed in terms of quality and quantity

Functional Area Plans

✓ Situational Analysis
✓ Target Market
✓ Marketing Objectives
✓ Marketing Strategies
✓ Schedules and budgets
✓ Financial Data and Control

Content of Marketing Plan

✓The amount of capacity the
company must have
✓How many employees are required
✓How much material must be
purchased

Contents of Production Plan

Production
Plan
Example
✓Analysis of firm’s current financial
condition
✓A Sales forecast
✓The capital budget
✓External Financing Plan

Contents of the Financial Plan

✓Personnel requirements
✓Plans for recruitment and selection
✓Training Plan
✓Retirement Plan

Contents of the Human Resource

Plan
 ✓ Short Term Plans – cover less than one
year
✓ Long Term Plans – cover more than one
year

Plans with Time Horizon

 ✓ Standing Plans – Plans that are used
again and again
Categories:
- Policies ( broad guidelines to aid managers
at every level in making decisions)
- Procedures (plans that describes the exact
series of actions to be taken in a given
situation
- Rules – Statements that either require or
forbid a certain action

Plans According to frequency

 ✓ Single-Use Plans – Plans that are specifically
developed to implement courses of action that are
relatively unique and unlikely to be repeated
Categories:
- Budgets (A plan which sets forth the
projected expenditure for a certain activity
and explains where the required funds)
- Program (designed to coordinate a large set
of activities)
- Project (Usually more limited in scope than
a program and is sometimes prepared to
support a program)

Plans According to Frequency

Summary (Types of Plans)
 Recognize the planning barriers
- Manager’s inability to plan
- Improper planning process
- lack of commitment
- improper information
- Too much reliance of the planning dept
- focusing on controllable variable
• Use of aids in planning
- gather information as much as possible
- Develop multiple sources of information
- involve others in the planning process

Factors that May Result to

Successful Planning
 End
 Next meeting:
- submit the second case study
- lecture