Define Planning.

According to Koontz and O’Donnell, “Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who is to do it.” In other words, planning refers to thinking before hand. It involves the anticipation of future course of events and give it a desired direction.

Planning is Futuristic: Planning decides the plan of action - what is to be done, how is it to be done, when is it to be done, by whom is it to be done, all these questions are related to future. Under planning, answers to these questions are found out. While an effort is made to find out these answers, the possibility of social, economic, technical and changes in legal framework are kept in mind. Since planning is concerned with future activities, it is called futuristic.

Planning is the first important function of management. The other functions, e.g., organising, staffing, directing and controlling come later. In the absense of planning no other function of management can be performed. This is the base of other functions of management.

Planning is a continuous process because:

(a) A plan is prepared for a particular period. Hence, there is need for a new plan after the expiry of that period.

(b) In case of any discrepancy plans are to be revised.

(c) In case of rapid changes in the business environment plans are to be revised.

Planning is known as a mental exercise as it is related to thinking before doing something. A planner has mainly to think about the following questions:

(i) What to do? (ii) How to do it?

(iii) When to do it? (iv) Who is to do it?