- Meaning: A procedure is a step-by-step (chronological) sequence showing the exact way an activity is done.
- Purpose: Procedures execute policies and help in achieving objectives (they are guides to action).
- Scope: A procedure is narrower and less flexible than a policy; usually every policy has a procedure.
- Procedure vs method: Procedure = series of steps; Method = specific way of doing one step (more detailed).
- Cross-department: Procedures often involve many departments (e.g., purchase procedure includes production, purchase, stores, finance).
- Importance: Saves manager’s time, makes work routine, improves efficiency, ensures uniformity, supports delegation, training, and becomes a basis of control.
- Limits + essentials: Can cause rigidity, reduce initiative, and become outdated; good procedures must be fact-based, objective/policy-focused, standardised, balanced (stable + flexible), and reviewed regularly.
Definitions [1]
Definition: Planning
- Planning is fundamentally a mental predisposition to do things in an orderly way, to think before acting and to act in the light of the facts rather than of guesses. -L.F. Urwick
- Planning is the thinking process, the organised foresight, the vision based on facts and experience that is required for intelligent action. -Alfred and Beatty
- Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. It involves the selection of objectives, policies, procedures and programmes from among alternatives. -M.E. Hurley
Key Points
Key Points: Distinction between Policies and Rules
| Basis | Policies | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| Type | General | Specific |
| Guide | Decisions | Behaviour |
| Focus | Attitude/direction | Do/Don’t |
| Flexibility | Flexible | Rigid |
| Discretion | Allowed | Not allowed |
Key Points: Distinction between Policies and Procedures
| Basis | Policies | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Guide | Guide thinking & decisions | Guide actions/operations |
| 2. Nature | General attitude on issues | Systematic steps for routine work |
| 3. Flexibility | Flexible (allows discretion) | Rigid (little deviation) |
| 4. Detail level | Broad & general | Specific & detailed (step-by-step) |
| 5. Role | Link purpose → performance | Link activities → outcomes |
| 6. Level made | Mainly top management | Mostly middle & lower levels |
| 7. Source/form | From objectives; general statements | From policies; chronological sequence |
Key Points: Distinction between Policies and Strategies
| Basis | Policies | Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Meaning | Guide thinking & actions for decisions | Give direction for using resources |
| 2. Type of decisions | For repetitive decisions | For contingent/unique decisions |
| 3. Situation | Used when facts are mostly known | Used when alternatives can’t be pre-analysed |
| 4. Delegation | Can be delegated | Usually not delegated (needs top/last-minute decision) |
| 5. Nature & competition | Standing/long-term, not based mainly on competitors | Non-repetitive, revised often, made considering competitors |
Key Points: Types of Plans > Procedures
Key Points: Meaning of Planning
- Planning is the first function: It is the first and most important managerial function; all other functions (organising, staffing, directing, controlling) depend on it.
- Why planning is needed: Organisational objectives cannot be achieved well without planning; unplanned actions may give bad/undesirable results.
- Meaning of a plan: A plan is a pre-decided future course of action.
- Meaning of planning: Planning means deciding objectives for a time period, creating alternative ways, and selecting the best course of action.
- Nature of planning: Planning is a mental exercise—thinking before doing, using facts and experience, and choosing among alternatives.
Key Points: Importance of Planning
- Focus on objectives: Planning makes goals clear and directs efforts/resources towards them.
- Makes work meaningful: Everyone understands how their work connects to goals, so motivation increases.
- Brings order: Planning gives clear direction, avoids confusion, and reduces ad-hoc actions.
- Reduces risk/uncertainty: Helps forecast future and prepare for changes and dangers in business.
- Improves efficiency/economy: Chooses the best method, reduces waste, and ensures best use of resources at minimum cost.
- Basis of control: Plans set standards to compare actual performance and take corrective action (control is blind without planning).
- Helps decisions + coordination + future: Planning improves decision-making, supports coordination among departments, and bridges the gap between present position and future goals.
Key Points: Steps in the Process of Planning
- Set objectives: Clearly define organisation and department goals (clear, specific, and broken into targets).
- Develop planning premises: Decide assumptions about the future using forecasting (tangible/intangible, internal/external, controllable/uncontrollable).
- Identify alternatives: Find possible ways to reach goals using reliable, up-to-date information (focus on key options—limiting factor).
- Evaluate & choose best: Compare alternatives by cost, benefit, risk, and suitability; select the best one scientifically.
- Form derivative plans: Make detailed plans like policies, procedures, rules, programmes, schedules, budgets for implementation.
- Secure cooperation: Communicate plans to employees, take suggestions, and motivate them for full support.
- Follow-up & revise: Review plans regularly and update them based on results, new facts, and changing environment.
Key Points: Types of Plans > Methods
- Meaning: Methods are standardised ways of doing routine and repetitive jobs (e.g., straight line or diminishing balance method for depreciation).
- Purpose: They keep work on planned lines, avoid confusion/ad-hocism, and ensure economy and efficiency.
- Nature: Methods give detailed, specific guidance for day-to-day work and act as uniform norms to guide and control performance.
- Benefit: They help in simplification, standardisation and systematisation of work; standard methods represent the best way of doing a job.
- Relation with procedure: A method is narrower than a procedure—it is one step within a procedure and helps complete it with minimum time, money and effort.
Key Points: Types of Plans > Rules
- Meaning: Rules are specific statements of what must or must not be done in a particular situation (e.g., No smoking in the factory).
- Nature: Rules are standing plans and are usually strictly enforced with very few exceptions.
- Rules vs procedures: Rules handle one specific situation, while procedures deal with a sequence of related steps.
- Importance: Rules set limits of acceptable behaviour, help maintain discipline, improve efficiency, and make employee behaviour predictable towards objectives.
- Good rule-making: Rules should be valid and necessary, their purpose must be explained, and they should not stifle initiative/creativity while ensuring smooth work flow.
Key Points: Distinction between Procedures and Rules
| Basis | Procedures | Rules |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Steps | Chronological sequence of steps | No sequence (single instruction) |
| 2. Scope | Relatively broad/general | Very specific |
| 3. Nature | Flexible | Rigid |
| 4. Violation | Usually no fixed penalty | Penalty prescribed |
| 5.Character | May be personal | Impersonal |
Key Points: Features of Planning
- Goal-oriented: Planning is done to achieve organisational objectives; without goals, planning is useless.
- Future-oriented: It is looking ahead and preparing for future; forecasting is the base of planning.
- Mental/Intellectual process: Planning needs thinking, judgement, foresight, creativity and analysis (not guesswork).
- Primary + pervasive: It is the basic function on which others depend, and it is done in all organisations and at all levels.
- Continuous + choice + efficiency: Planning is ongoing, involves choosing the best alternative (decision-making), and aims to achieve results at minimum cost with best use of resources.
Key Points: Limitations of Planning
- Costly: Planning needs money, time, effort, data collection and sometimes experts—so cost should not exceed benefits.
- Time-consuming: Takes long for analysis, so it is not suitable in emergencies and may delay decisions/opportunities.
- Rigidity: People may follow plans blindly even when conditions change, which can reduce flexibility, initiative and creativity.
- Inaccuracy & false security: Plans depend on forecasts; wrong forecasts make plans misleading and may create a false feeling that everything is safe/complete.
- Other limits: Resistance to change (psychological barrier), external factors (technology, government policies, unrest), and human misuse (self-interest, useless reports); planning is only an aid, action and judgement are still needed.
Key Points: Types of Plans > Objectives
- Types of plans: Plans are of two types—Standing plans (repeat-use: objectives, policies, procedures, rules) and Single-use plans (one-time: programmes, budgets).
- Hierarchy of plans: Plans follow a hierarchy—higher level plans guide and create lower level plans (e.g., objectives → policies → procedures/rules → programmes → budgets).
- Meaning of objectives: Objectives are the ends/results an organisation wants to achieve; planning starts with setting objectives.
- Multiple & changing priorities: Businesses have many objectives (survival, profit, growth, social service, etc.) and priority can change with time.
- Hierarchy of objectives (ends–means chain): Objectives exist at all levels—corporate → divisional → departmental → sectional → work group; lower-level objectives help achieve higher ones.
- Importance of objectives: Objectives give legitimacy, direction, unified planning, motivation, coordination, and basis for control.
- Essentials of good objectives: They should be clear, specific, measurable, time-bound, supportive, challenging but achievable, acceptable, flexible, and set for key result areas (KRAs).
Key Points: Types of Plans > Strategy
- Meaning: Strategy is a comprehensive, integrated plan that shows the organisation’s future direction and destination.
- What it answers: It clarifies where the organisation is now, where it wants to go, and what it must do to reach there.
- Nature: Strategy is mainly long-term (but has short-term effects), action-oriented, and more specific than objectives.
- Formulation: It is usually made by top management, based on organisational objectives, and helps handle competition and environmental pressures.
- Key features: Strategy is flexible and dynamic, based on SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), and ensures best use of key resources with proper timing and sequence of major actions.
Key Points: Types of Plans > Policies
- Meaning: A policy is a general guideline that directs decision-making within limits to achieve objectives (allows discretion).
- Key features: Policy is a standing plan for recurring problems, gives broad routes to reach objectives, guides executive behaviour, and exists at all levels (company/department/minor).
- Types of policies: Originated (made by management), Appealed (on request of subordinates), Imposed (forced by outside agencies), Written, and Implied (unwritten but followed).
- Operationalises objectives: Policies convert objectives into practical actions (give “how to achieve” goals).
- Speeds decisions & delegation: Saves time by avoiding repeated analysis and helps delegate authority safely within set limits.
- Coordination, training & control: Ensures consistent decisions, supports coordination, helps training/orientation, and strengthens administrative control.
- Limits + essentials: Policies are not answers for every situation and need judgement; good policies must be clear, written (preferably), reasonable, fair, fact-based, flexible, and reviewed regularly.
Key Points: Distinction between Objectives and Policies
| Basis | Objectives | Policies |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Goals (ends) | Guidelines (means) |
| What vs How | What to do | How to do |
| Planning | Destination | Route |
| Level | Mostly top/owners | All levels |
| Link | One needs many policies | Each policy for one objective |
Key Points: Distinction between Rules and Methods
| Basis | Rules | Methods |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Guide | Guide behaviour (do/don’t) | Best way to do a task |
| 2. Purpose | Ensure discipline & order | Ensure efficiency & economy |
| 3. Nature | Strict adherence + control needed | Standardised/simplified way |
| 4. Basis | From objectives, values, common sense | From research & analysis |
| 5. Penalty | Penalty for violation | Usually no penalty |
| 6. Link with procedure | May or may not be part of a procedure | Usually part of a procedure |
| 7. Focus | People’s behaviour | Work method/task |
Key Points: Types of Plans > Budgets
- Meaning: A budget is a numerical plan for a future period showing expected results in money/time/physical units.
- What it shows: It estimates costs, results and resource allocation (e.g., cash flows, capital outlay, production and sales targets).
- Planning + control tool: Budget makes goals clear in numbers and acts as a standard to evaluate performance.
- Time period: Budgets are generally prepared for one year.
- Master budget: A summary of all functional budgets, showing the overall plan of the organisation; approved by top management.
- Functional (operating) budgets: Prepared department-wise, e.g., Sales, Production, Materials, Labour, Cash budgets.
- Other budgets: Overheads budgets (production, distribution, administrative) and Capital vs Revenue budgets (fixed assets spending vs routine income/expenses).
Key Points: Types of Plans > Programmes
- Meaning: A programme is a detailed plan to implement policies and achieve a specific objective.
- What it includes: It combines goals, policies, tasks, resources, time period, and tells who will do what and how.
- Use: Used for activities like new product development, training, advertising, expansion, etc.
- Types: Major programme = main/basic plan; Minor programme = supporting/derivative plan (one major may need many minor programmes).
- Features: It is a single-use, action-based, time-bound plan that supports smooth working and motivation, but must be stable + flexible because environmental changes can cause failure.
