IMPORTANCE
OF PLANNING AND CONTROL IN AN ORGANIZATION
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This term paper
on the importance of planning and control in an organization intends to
highlight the broad concept of planning and control, to indicate their
importance and to introduce some approaches and techniques in accomplishing
them.
Planning
rests upon the belief that the future of an entity can be enhanced by
continuous Management action which presuppose that an entity can move
successfully in terms of its decision objectives because of planned management
decision (to implement the faced forward concept. However, it can’t if there were no planned
intervention by the management.
Planning is
very important in an organization because it is the stage at which managers set
objectives that determine the organization activities in the near future.
In
today’s increasingly complex organization, Institution alone can no longer be
relied upon as a means for decision making. This is one of the reasons planning
becomes important. By providing a more rational, fact-based procedure for
making decisions, planning allows managers and organizations to minimize risk
and uncertainty.
In dynamic
society like ours in which societal and economic conditions alter rapidly
planning helps to prepare for and deal with possible changes. Planning also provides the scores from which
organization plays in harmony and provides us with benchmarks, or points of
references, against which accomplishment can be measured.
Consequently,
effective control necessarily must rest upon a firm foundation of management
planning. Control is also based upon the
concept of feed back, which requires performances, measurements and triggers
corrective measures designed to assure attainment of the objectives when plans
becomes operational, control must be excised in order to measure progress. In some cases, control also results
information of new plans, changes in operations and re-assignment of
people. Control approaches must be in
consonance with the characteristics of operation and into the individual
involved.
An
important aspect of control that is frequently over looked is its relationship
to the point of action. Control cannot
be export facts. For example, an
expenditure already made or an inefficiency already committed can hardly be
un-done. This effective control must be
exercised at the point of action or at the point of commitment. This concepts
imply that the manager responsible for certain actions must engage in a form of
prior control. To do this, the
pre-determined objectives plans, policies and standards must have
communications to the manager in advance and with such information at hand, the
manager is in a position to exercise control at the point of action (i.e. the
decision making point). This fact emphasizes why the concept of feed forward is
so fundamental from all these. It is
imperative to comprehend that planning is the first stage in establishment and
maintenance of an organization which involves the determination of future needs
of the organization, the formulation of objectives, the determination of
policies to be formed and the making of short medium and along term plans for
the organization control which itself involves the measurement of the
performance of the subordinates against planned activities or set standards, so
that they do not deviate.
Control is
the final process in the performance of the management function. Planning and
control could be said to be identical twins or inter-related because without
planning, there will be no control. The
system of control is therefore, the process taken by managers to correct the
deviations of subordinates from the standard set.
This helps
to make sure that the objectives and goals are arrived at as ends. Controls is very important in any
organization. Since planning is the
Pivot around which the wheel of other functions of management relates, while
control is the measurement of performance against a set standard, it follows
that planning seeks consistent, integrated and articulated programmes, while
control seeks to compel events to conform to plans.
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT WORK.
Planning is the mental and intellectual work required before physical effort
takes place. It allows managers to bring together available resources
effectively in accomplishing objectives. When planning does not proceed
actions, an organization deliberately limits its success to enormous factors
inherent in the society that will reduce the effectiveness of the organization.
Early
leaders in the management field, such as Hemi Fayol and Fredrick N. Taylon,
recognized the overall importance of planning in training and development of
workers. He believed that managers should be responsible for planning,
rather than allowing workers to devise their own individual plans.
Control is
an integral and unavoidable part of the life in the twentieth century.
Each day in our lives we are subjected to countless controls- alm docks, fuel
garage, traffic signals and signs.
Organizations are really minisociaties and as such they requires controls.
Therefore, control is a necessary part of all modern organizations. A variety
of controls and inventory reports from the foregoing therefore, there is no
gain-saying that control is important in every organization hence without there
will be chaos. Obviously, a minimum of control is necessary to maintain basic
order in a society.
1.2 PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUBJECT
MATTER
This term paper is designed to emphasize on the enormous problems facing
management in the private and public sectors and to make recommendations
particularly on the importance of planning and control in any business
organization and public cooperation.
Taking the present economic predicament of our nation into consideration, the
researcher discovered that poor planning and control over the years, has ruined
from head to toe. Lack of proper government deprived business organizations
from reaching their desired economic goals, and have kept people in the state
of bankrupt.
Finally, this term paper is designed to unfold the effect of lack of planning
and control in business and to make possible suggestions for improvements.
1.3 PROBLEM THAT THE STUDY WILL BE
CONCERNED WITH
The problems which the study will be concerned with is to examine the planning
and control methods of an organization.
The nature of the ways planning and control methods are being affected and the
problems being encountered in the implementation and also to make
recommendation in the managerial planning and controlling efficiency.
1.4 THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING THE AREA
The
Importance of Planning.
Planning is as important to business organization as breath is to life. Without
planning life becomes stagnant. In absence of planning, the existence of all
living and all economic activities seems to be in terrible negligence of
planning or lack of individuals, government and business organizations.
Plans will necessarily end on paper if nothing is done to implement them. To
implement means to carryout an undertaken agreement, promise, plan, etc into
effect. For instance, if the marketing manager had budgeted the sum of
N580,000.00 for promotion Zuto detergent, nothing will still happen unless he
takes additional steps of implementing the budget.
In order to implement the budget, he must decide on whether to use in house or
professional advertising agencies. It will be the role of those charged with
the responsibility to determine the combination of media to use, the number of
sales persons to recruit, the prizes and incentive packages, the gift items and
associated publicity necessary to achieve the promotional goals.
Planning is of great importance in business organization to ensure that things
do not go more in a zigzag form. For the fact that everything in the world has
process and procedure to achieve different goals and objectives, plans must be
made.
The importance of planning in an organization cannot be overlooked owing to the
dynamic nature of the society.
Planning is basically centered on decision making which can be made by an individual
for his daily existence. Family planning is an existing trend currently in the
nation which involves husband and wife making decision on how to produce
children as well as maintaining a reasonable standard of living for themselves
and their children.
In business organization like production industries, product planning is
a serious managerial function. It is under their product planning that the
following decisions take place:
a. Which product the company
make or buy?
b. Should the firm market more
or fewer product?
c. What new uses are there for
each product?
d. How can the product be
packaged and styled? And what size, colour and material should be produced?
e. In what quantities should
each be produced?
f. How should the product
be priced?
After the
above stated product planning and effective decision making have been made, the
next step is for management to design a way of developing the product planning.
1. Generation of new product
ideas. These ideas can be received from any source.
2. Screen process which
involves further study.
3. Business analysis-management
at this point identifies product features, estimates market demand and the
product profitability, establishes a programme to develop the product designs
responsibility for further study of the products feasibility.
4. Product development, the
idea drawn on paper is converted into a physical product.
5. Market testing which
involves commercial experiments of the new product in a sample.
6. Commercialization: This
involves full-scale production, and marketing programmer are planned. Any
business organization or office cannot thrive successfully without adequate
management planning because planning is the head and foremost before any other
managerial function proceeds to achieve the overall objectives of any named
organizations.
Planning is indispensable to government as physiological or biological needs
are important to individual or masses. It is obvious even to some illiterates
and laymen how government in the beginning of each fiscal year makes analysis
of last year budget which marks the end of every plan, and makes announcement
of new plans and budget which will help to accomplish the new year’s plans.
Indeed a planning is important to individuals, families, business organizations
and governments of any nations for their continuous existence.
Control and its importance control comes after planning has been concluded to
ensure that the establish goals and objectives by individuals, business
organizations and government are reached. Owing to the fact that individuals,
business organizations, and entire system in the economy seem to be dynamic, it
becomes imperative for us to control to achieve and to ensure that plans work
out effectively. The importance of control cannot be neglected since a lot of
obstacles to the achievement of plans stands obvious.
The government has different ways and measures of controlling the economy. One
of such ways is through monetary policy. The government bank has to control
commercial banks thereby controlling the entire money in circulation to avoid
inflation and deflation in any given economy. Control is of great importance to
government needs and desires are attained. Without controls, government’s
annual budget cannot match with its expenditure thereby amounting to either
deficit or surplus of budget which is not good to any economy or nation.
In business organization, the importance of controlling cannot be overlooked or
neglected, since in product planning and development, lack of control can
destroy and destabilize the organization raw materials and products which
amounts to how profit maximization.
Besides, control is also important in human race without self-control, any
fault or offences by one may result to the one’s death. Consequently, this
will bring about hurly-burly in all human race. Again, due to the dynamic
nature of all the activities man engages himself in, control is of great
importance for the achievement of goals plans and objectives it becomes very
expedient to control thereby ensuring reasonable percent of goal achievement.
1.6 DEFINITION OF IMPORTANT TERMS
Management
Planning:
This is been defined as the design of a desired future state for an entity and
of effective ways of bringing it about. A fundamental purposes of management
planning is to produce for a feed forward process and the concept of this
feed formular is to provide for making operational decisions on day-to-day
basis.
Planning:
This is generally recognized as the most difficult task facing a manager, and
it is one on which it is very easy to predetermine future and initiate and
negotiate actions. This indicates that planning is deciding in advance what to
do, how to do it and who is to do it. Also, it can simply be seen as setting a
goal or objective and devising the means, policies, programmes, and procedures
through which to achieve the goals. Infact, it brings the gap between where we
are and where we want to go.
Control:
Control may be defined simply as the action, necessary to ensure that
objectives, plans, policies and standards are being attained. Control
pre-supposes feed forwards, meaning that those objectives, plans and controls
have been developed and communicated to those managers who have performance
responsibility for accomplishing their work.
Therefore, it can precisely be seen as the measurement of performance progress
or out put against a set standard or goal.
Entrepreneur: One who organizes manages and
assumes the risk of a business firm or venture.
Assets:
Anything of value that the business owns
Management: The process of planning,
organizing directing, coordinating and controlling the activities of a business
enterprises so as to attain stated objectives by the use of people and other
resources requires decision making and leadership.
Liabilities: The claims of creditors against
the assets of the business i.e. what the business owns.
Small Business: One that is actively managed by
its owners highly personalized local in its area of operation of relatively
small size within the industry, and largely dependent upon internal source of
capital to finance its growth.
Business: This is all activities directly
or indirectly concern with production and distribution of goods and services
which is aimed principally at making profit.
Organization: An entity that is constructed and
deliberately reconstructed to achieve specific goals and objectives.
Planning: Setting future goals, developing
action plan and monitoring performance against the plan.
Controlling: Is a part of the management
process that involves ascertaining the extent to which expectation’s are being
met taking action to ensure that they are met and making some modification in
view of realities that emerge during execution.