Imagine a football team without a coach, no one there to formulate a plan of action specifically in times of difficulty. Sure the teams members can pool together and create a plan but in reality the responsibility of the team is simply to play football, they would need guidance both off and on the field. Similarly, an organization that lacks the proper direction would be in shambles and not performing as well as it ought to. According to Robbins and Coulter, planning involves defining the organization’s goals, establishing strategies for achieving these goals, and developing plans to integrate and coordinate work activities. It is essential to make plans whilst managing an organization as it is a major contribution to the smooth running of a business. The concept of planning i mainly concerned with the ends and the means. A manager should always plan because not only does is foster a sense of direction for employees but it reduces uncertainty for the future of the business. Planning also minimizes redundancy it eradicates any actions that may the cause of certain inefficiencies in the organization. It is plays an important part with respect to establishing goals and standards for the employees as well as the company as it sets out the goals very plainly for the employees to see. This essay seeks to discuss how planning is important.

In an organization, when plans are discussed it usually refers to formal planning where specific goals are established and the time period for these goals are well defined. These plans are made to reduce indecisiveness and create a common understanding of what needs to be done. There are several types of plans that can be used. Strategic planning creates an overall plan for the company while operational plans are made only for certain operational area. There are also long-term and short-term plans, and plans that are specific. In traditional goal setting, goals are formulated by top managers who then passes the information down the chain of command in the company, these goals are then broken down into sub goals for each department. For example, the coach of the football team would see the bigger picture where his team has won the match, he would then create a game plan and pass it down to the captain who would communicate with the team and ensure that each person stay in they’re respective corner and plays according to plan. At the end of the match, despite if the team won or lost, they’re performance must be evaluated to point out where the plan wet sloppy or to to see who was not pulling they’re weight.
In an organization, however, strategic planning may at some point become ambiguous and may need to become even more specific to suit each department. This is where a breakdown in communication can occur and things can go haywire.

Managers should always follow five steps when setting goals for their company. Firstly, they should always review the mission or purpose of the business. A mission establishes what it truly important in the organization and what the consumer would be expecting. The goals set by the manager should always reflect the purpose of the company. Secondly, an evaluation of resources just always be done. If your company lacks the resources that they need then the goal will become more difficult to meet. A goal should not be set if the manager knows that they have insufficient resources or the wrong resources to work with. Determining the goals individually or as a group is another step that should be taken when setting a goal. Goals should also be documented and communicated to all who need to know. This encourages people to think through everything they do and provide physical evidence that they are indeed working toward a desired outcome. Lastly, managers and employees should always review the results and determine whether the goals are being met, if it is not then a change is needed within the organization.

When developing a plan there are three contingency factors that affect the choice of plan you may make. These contingency factors include: organizational level, degree of environmental uncertainty and length of future commitments. It is observed that operational planning is undertaken by lower-level managers while top-managers are more concerned with strategic planning. This shows that the type of planning made is linked to the manager’s level. The second contingency factor, environmental uncertainty, depicts that when uncertainty is high, plans should be specific but flexible. Managers should always be prepared to alter or fix plans as they are implemented. Manager may even be required to abandon certain plans as they may become inconsistent with the desired outcome. The last contingency plan is related to time frame as well. “The commitment concept posits that plans should extend far enough to meet the commitments made when the plans where first developed” (Robbins and Coulter). Planning too far ahead or too short into the future is consequently inefficient and ineffective.

Though planning is generally seen as a positive thing, there are a few criticisms that challenge the assumptions of planning. Critics believe that planning may create rigidity. Formal plans are viewed as routines that would never change, a specific outcome is always expected within a specified time frame. Any alterations in this assumption can become disastrous and managers who continue to pursue original goals may not be able to cope with going off-course. The second criticism is that plans cant be developed for a dynamic environment . A dynamic environment often has many changes and if the basic assumption that the business environment should not change is proven otherwise, how can plans be made? The modern business environment differs from the traditional as the environment is unpredictable, some formal plans will need to be altered. According to critics, formal plans can never replace intuition and creativity. Innovation is highly valued in today’s organizational environment. Often, it is this quality in employees that drives a company to ground-breaking success. The redundancy found in a routine may impede the innovative vision of the employees and slowing the pace to success. Formal planning also reinforces success, which may ultimately lead to failure. When a formal plan has worked on numerous occasions, it is difficult to take a course a action that may lead to the unknown. Successful plans foster a false sense of security and may hinder a company from trying someone new that be even more successful. The last criticism is that planning is simply not enough. A plan is a course of action conceptualized to meet a particular goal. The manager and employees must actually execute the plans in its desired way. Planning is only one side of being successful, doing actual makes up the bulk of goal-attainment.

The statement “Organizations that fail to plan are planning to fail” is therefore only partially true. A plan reflects the mission or purpose of the business, however the plan also requires action. Plans ensure that employees know which direction they should be heading in and instruct them on their specific tasks that need to be done. Though planning can lead to tremendous amounts of success, innovation and adaptation to change is also needed as a plan of action will not always work. Change is the most constant thing in the world and it should always be anticipated. Likewise, an employee with innovative vision should be valued and never kept quiet. A successful business always progresses with fresh ideas and can become bigger than it is, if managers decide to listen to the ideas of an employee. Planning is required on the road to success, however it is not the only driving force a business needs to become successful in today’s economy.