BaM09

• Planning


  The most basic of all managerial functions. Deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it. Provides the bridge to take us from where we are to where we want to go.
• Plan


  A predetermined course of action that includes searching for possibilities of future problems, using techniques to handle uncertainty, requiring reflective thinking and imagination, based on facts not emotions/wishes, and the other management functions depend on it
• Why do we make plans?

  To develop a clear concept of the organization, to create a desired future, to give the organization direction and focus its activities, to anticipate and respond to changing environments, to examine the organization's strengths and weaknesses, to develop a consensus among the guiding members
• Types of Plans


  • Functional area plans (marketing, production, financial, HR)
  • Plans with time horizon (short-range, long-range)
  • Plans with varied frequency of use (standing plans - policies, procedures, rules; single-use plans - budgets, programs, projects)
• The Planning Process


  1. Setting organizational/divisional/unit goals

  2. Developing strategies/tactics to reach goals

  3. Determining resources needed

  4. Setting standards
• Important principles in planning include the primacy of planning, flexibility of planning, contribution to purpose and objectives, pervasiveness of planning, efficiency of plans, and the principle of planning
• Decision Making


  The process of choosing and selecting the best possible alternatives. Decisions are useless unless they are acted on or implemented.
• Types of Decisions


  • Programmed decisions (highly structured with predetermined decision rules)
  • Non-programmed decisions (unstructured with no clear procedures)
• Basic Decision-Making Process


  1. Identify the problem

  2. Gather information about the problem

  3. Develop alternative solutions

  4. Analyze the alternatives

  5. Select the best alternative

  6. Implement the alternative

  7. Evaluate the decision
• sometimes prepared to support a program.
• Plans


  Different types of plans classified in terms of functional areas, time horizon, and frequency of use
• Functional Area Plans


  • Marketing Plan
  • Production Plan
  • Financial Plan
  • Human Resource Plan
• Marketing Plan


  A written document or blueprint for implementing and controlling an organization's marketing activities related to a particular marketing strategy
• Production Plan


  A written document that states the quantity of output a company must produce in broad terms and by product family
• Financial Plan


  A document that summarizes the current financial situation of the firm, analyzes financial needs, and recommends a direction for financial activities
• Human Resource Plan


  A document that indicates the human resource needs of a company detailed in terms of quantity and quality and based on the requirements of the company's strategic plan
• Plans with Time Horizon

  • Short range Plans
  • Long Range Plans
• Short range Plans


  Plans intended to cover a period of less than one year
• Long Range Plans


  Plans covering a time span of more than one year, mostly undertaken by middle and top management
• Plans with Varied Frequency of Use

  • Standing Plans
  • Single-use Plans
• Standing Plans


  Plans that are used again and again, focusing on managerial situations that recur repeatedly
• Types of Standing Plans

  • Policies
  • Procedures
  • Rules
• Policies


  Broad guidelines used by managers to help make decisions and take actions on specific circumstances
• Procedures


  Plans that describe the exact series of actions to be taken in a given situation
• Rules


  Statements that either require or forbid a certain action
• Single-use Plans


  Plans specifically developed to implement courses of action that are relatively unique and are unlikely to be repeated
• Plans may be further classifies as follows:

  • Budget Plans
  • Program Plans
  • Project Plan
• Budget Plans


  Sets forth the projected expenditures for a certain period and explains where the required funds will come from
• Program Plans


  Designed to coordinate a large set of activities
• Project Plan


  Usually more limited in scope than a program plan and is sometimes prepared to support a program