Planning is the basic requirement and important input of Management process. everyone who is preoccupied with the responsibility of managing has to plan.
planning is a process of deciding in advance what is to be done, how, when and by whom it is to be done.
according to Terry "planning is the selecting and relating of fact and the making and using of exemption regarding the future in the visualisation and formulation of proposed activity believed necessary to achieve the desired results"
according to haimann "planning is deciding in advance what is to be done"
according to Allen "plan is a trap laid to capture the future"
according to J. L Massie "planning is process by which a manager looks to the future and Discover alternative source of action open to him"
according to Henry Fayol "the plan of action is, at one and the same time the result envisaged , line of action to be followed, the stage to go through, and method to use."
characteristic of planning
- it is based on objective and policies
- It is a mental activity
- it is pervades all managerial activities
- it is a primary function of management
- planning is to be flexible and variable
- once plan is prepared, it should be communicated to all those concerned
- planning has close relationship with the time
- it concern future activity
- it is based on facts
- it is directed towards efficiency
- it has a dynamic aspect
- it is decision making process
