Importance and Benefits of Planning môn Principle of Management | Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

Importance of Planning
Planning is definitely significant as it directs us where to go, it furnishes direction and decreases the danger
of risk by making predictions. The significant advantages of planning are provided below:
- Planning provides directions: Planning assures that the objectives are certainly asserted so that they
serve as a model for determining what action should be taken and in which direction. If objects are
well established, employees are informed of what the company has to do and what they need do to accomplish those purposes.
- Planning decreases the chances of risk: Planning is an activity which permits a manager to look
forward and predict changes. By determining in prior the tasks to be completed, planning notes the
way to deal with changes and unpredictable effects.
- Planning decreases overlapping and wasteful activities: Planning works as the foundation of
organizing the activities and purposes of distinct branches, departments, and people. It assists in
avoiding chaos and confusion. Since planning guarantees precision in understanding and action,
work is conducted on easily without delays.
- Planning encourages innovative ideas: Since it is the primary function of management, new
approaches can take the form of actual plans. It is the most challenging project for the management
as it leads all planned actions pointing to growth and of the business.
- Planning aids decision making: It encourages the manager to look into the future and make a decision
from amongst several alternative plans of action. The manager has to assess each option and pick the most viable plan. Benefits of Planning
In today’s chaotic environment, planning more than a few months in advance may seem futile. Progress,
however, is rarely made through random activity. Planning does provide benefits that facilitate progress
even when faced with uncertainty and a constantly changing environment. Some of the benefits include the following:
Planning provides a guide for action. Plans can direct everyone’s actions toward desired outcomes.
When actions are coordinated and focused on specific outcomes they are much more effective.
Planning improves resource utilization. Resources are always scarce in organizations, and managers
need to make sure the resources they have are used effectively. Planning helps managers determine
where resources are most needed so they can be allocated where they will provide the most benefit.
Plans provide motivation and commitment. People are not motivated when they do not have clear
goals and do not know what is expected of them. Planning reduces uncertainty and indicates what
everyone is expected to accomplish. People are more likely to work toward a goal they know and understand.
Plans set performance standards. Planning defines desired outcomes as well as mileposts to define
progress. These provide a standard for assessing when things are progressing and when they need correction.
Planning allows flexibility. Through the goal-setÝng process, managers identify key resources in the
organization as well as critical factors outside the organization that need to be monitored. When
changes occur, managers are more likely to detect them and know how to deploy resources to respond. Drawbacks to Planning
Planning provides clear benefits to organizations, but planning can also harm organizations if is not
implemented properly. The following are some drawbacks to planning that can occur:
Planning prevents action. Managers can become so focused on planning and trying to plan for every
eventuality that they never get around to implementing the plans. This is called “death by planning.”
Planning does little good if it does not lead to the other functions.
Planning leads to complacency. Having a good plan can lead managers to believe they know where the
organization is going and how it will get there. This may cause them to fail to monitor the progress of the
plan or to detect changes in the environment. As we discussed earlier, planning is not a one-time
process. Plans must be continually adjusted as they are implemented.
Plans prevent flexibility. Although good plans can lead to flexibility, the opposite can also occur. Mid-
and lower-level managers may feel that they must follow a plan even when their experience shows it is
not working. Instead of reporting problems to upper managers so changes can be made, they will
continue to devote time and resources to ineffective actions.
Plans inhibit creativity. Related to what was said earlier, people in the organization may feel they must
carry out the activities defined in the plan. If they feel they will be judged by how well they complete
planned tasks, then creativity, initiative, and experimentation will be inhibited. Success often comes
from innovation as well as planning, and plans must not prevent creativity in the organization.
Does PLANNING IMPROVE FOCUS AND FLEXIBILITY?
planning to create conditions for businesses to focus on understanding the market, paying attention to
customer feelings. from there, businesses can improve the shortcomings.
PLANNING IMPROVES ACTION ORIENTATION
Planning keeps people and organizations focused on the actions that are needed to stay competitive and to
become better at what they are doing. Planning helps make people and organizations more oriented
toward results, priorities, advantages, and change.
PLANNING IMPROVES COORDINATION AND CONTROL
Planning improves coordination. Planning helps individuals, groups, and subsystems within
organizations make meaningful contributions to the organization as a whole, even as they pursue
their specific tasks and objectives.
Planning improves control. Planning facilitates control by defining objectives and desired
performance results and identifying specific actions through which they are to be pursued.
STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL PLANS
What is a strategic plan?
A strategic plan is when you look at the long-term goals you want to achieve. You would use strategic
planning when you want to reach a broad life or career goal. This kind of plan gives you a general idea of
how you're going to reach your goals. Rather than listing all of the details, it looks at the broader actions you may need to take.
One advantage of a strategic plan is that you get a chance to focus on bigger objectives. Rather than looking
at your daily efforts, you may revisit your plan once a quarter. This would be an ideal plan when trying to
increase your revenue or boost your sales numbers. What is a tactical plan?
A tactical plan is when you focus on the specific steps you need to take in order to achieve a goal. This kind
of planning process focuses on the day-to-day actions you need to complete. With a tactical plan, you need
to revisit your progress more frequently.
A tactical plan is useful when you need to break a long-term goal into smaller parts. For example, if you
want to find a new job, there are many short-term goals to accomplish throughout the process. You need to
create a resume, find jobs to apply to, write cover letters, interview for jobs and negotiate a job offer. Each
one of these smaller goals requires a detailed plan for you to accomplish.
The differences between strategic and tactical plans
Strategic planning and tactical planning actually complement one another. The main difference is that
strategic planning happens first. You need to look at your larger objectives and see what you want to
accomplish overall. Then, once you have this outline, you can use tactical planning to figure out what
smaller actions will help you reach your goals.
Your strategic plan will look at your general mission, values and aspirations. These are the things you work
toward over a long period of time. Your tactical plan will look at your daily operations, actions and efforts.
You will use this plan to eventually accomplish your larger goals. IMPORTANCE OF CONTROLLING
• Accomplishing organizational goals
• Judging accuracy of standards • EfÏcient use of resources
• Improve employee motivation
• Ensure order and discipline
• Facilitating and coordination.
FEEDFORWARD CONTROLS: sometimes called preliminary or preventive controls, attempt to identify, and
prevent deviations in the standards before they occur. Feedforward controls focus on human, material, and
financial resources within the organization. These controls are evident in the selection and hiring of new
employees. For example, organizations attempt to improve the likelihood that employees will perform up
to standards by identifying the necessary job skills and by using tests and other screening devices to hire people with those skills.
CONCURRENT CONTROLS: monitor ongoing employee activity to ensure consistency with quality standards.
These controls rely on performance standards, rules, and regulations for guiding employee tasks and
behaviors. Their purpose is to ensure that work activities produce the desired results. As an example, many
manufacturing operations include devices that measure whether the items being produced meet quality
standards. Employees monitor the measurements; if they see that standards are not being met in some
area, they make a correction themselves or let a manager know that a problem is occurring.
FEEDBACK CONTROLS: involve reviewing information to determine whether performance meets
established standards. For example, suppose that an organization establishes a goal of increasing its profit
by 12 percent next year. To ensure that this goal is reached, the organization must monitor its profit on a
monthly basis. After three months, if profit has increased by 3 percent, management might assume that
plans are going according to schedule.