Introduction
You have just read about the plans
of Indian Oil Company Limited
(IOCL). Of course, these are broad
statements given by the company
and
... [Show More] they have to be broken down
into steps for implementation. This
is an example of a company with a
nation‑wide reach striving to be one
of the top companies in India. Further
more, every organisation whether
it is government-owned, a privately
owned business or a company in the
private sector requires planning. The
government makes five year plans
for the country, a small business
has it’s own plans, while other
companies have big plans, sales
plans, production plans. All of them
have some plans.
All business firms would like to be
successful, increase their sales and
earn profits. All managers dream
of these and strive to achieve their
goals. But to turn these dreams
into reality managers need to work
hard in thinking about the future,
in making business predictions and
achieving targets. Dreams can be
turned into reality only if business
managers think in advance on what
to do and how to do it. This is the
essence of planning.
Concept
Planning is deciding in advance what
to do and how to do. It is one of the
basic managerial functions. Before
doing something, the manager must
formulate an idea of how to work on
a particular task. Thus, planning is
closely connected with creativity and
innovation. But the manager would
first have to set objectives, only then
will a manager know where he has
to go. Planning seeks to bridge the
gap between where we are and where
we want to go. Planning is what
managers at all levels do. It requires
taking decisions since it involves
making a choice from alternative
courses of action.
Planning, thus, involves setting
objectives and developing appropriate
courses of action to achieve these objectives.
Objectives provide direction
for all managerial decisions and
actions. Planning provides a rational
approach for achieving predetermined
objectives. All members, therefore,
on a project basis IOC will certainly go into the market — both
India and Overseas, depending on which is cheaper — to borrow
money, if needed.
Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/
companies/ioc-to-invest-around-rs-20-000-in-2017-18-
plans-expansion-acquisitions-117051600438_1.html.
Rationalised 2023-24
Planning 93
need to work towards achieving
organisational goals. These goals
set the targets which need to be
achieved and against which actual
performance is measured. Therefore,
planning means setting objectives
and targets and formulating an
action plan to achieve them. It
is concerned with both ends and
means i.e., what is to be done and
how it is to be done.
The plan that is developed has to
have a given time frame but time
is a limited resource. It needs to be
utilised judiciously. If time factor
is not taken into consideration,
conditions in the environment may
change and all business plans may
go waste. Planning will be a futile
exercise if it is not acted upon or
implemented.
Do you think from the above we
can formulate a comprehensive
definition of planning? One of the
ways to do so would be to define
planning as setting objectives for
a given time period, formulating
various courses of action to
achieve them, and then selecting
the best possible alternative from
among the various courses of
action available. [Show Less]