PLANNING

A plan is a predetermined course of action

which provides purpose and direction of an organization. Planning is foreseeing future circumstances and requirements, then, setting objectives, making long and short term plans and determining the policies to be followed with standards to be set.

 It involves making a systematic process for achieving the organizations goals. In planning, managers receive and store information, monitor and disseminate the information. A manager makes decisions on strategy and allocation of resources and initiate planned changes Strategic planning is the process of developing and analyzing the organizations mission, overall goals, general strategies and allocating resources.
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 A strategy is a course of action created to achieve a long term goal. Goals are the things that the organization strives to achieve. Strategic planning requires a lot of information gathering, exploring alternatives and emphasizing future implications of its current decisions.
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Steps in planning
1. Define the organizations mission and vision. A mission is the purpose of the organization.It explains why the organization exists . Vision is the future goal or achievement of an organization. It guides the mission of the organization by defining measurable strategic and financial objectives

 2. SWOT ANALYSIS
Analyze the strength, weaknesses and identify opportunities and threats of the organization i.e. SWOT Analysis baseline. SWOT analysis is used as the basis for future improvements.

3. Setting goals and objectives.

Goals and objectives are developed to bridge the gap between current capability and the mission Objectives are statements describing results and the way in which they will be achieved. They are more specific and narrower than goals.

4. Develop a strategy.
Information collected from the environmental scan is used to: Match strengths with opportunities and address weaknesses while trying to minimize threats to its existence. Make superior profits by getting a competitive advantage over competitors.
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5. Implementation of strategy.
Strategy is implemented by developing programs, budgets and procedures. It involves organizing the firms resources and motivating staff to achieve the firms objectives.

6. Evaluating /monitoring and control Evaluation and control consists of: Defining parameters to be measured. Defining the target values of those parameters. Performing measurement. Comparing measured results to predefined standards. Making necessary changes.
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ORGANIZING
This is the identification and classification of the required activities, the grouping of activities necessary to attain objectives, the assignment of each grouping to a manager with authority and the provision of coordination. In organizing, structures are created, relationships established and resources are allocated for the accomplishment of activities

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 In organizing, plans are reviewed, tasks to be performed are listed, tasks are grouped into jobs that can be done by an individual, departments are created, work is assigned to individuals and authority is delegated.

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 Organizational Structure
Each organization has an organizational structure. Ideally, in developing an organizational structure and distributing authority, managers' decisions reflect the mission, objectives, goals and tactics that grew out of the planning function.

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 Specifically, they include: 1. Division of labor 2. Delegation of authority 3. Departmentation 4. Span of control 5. Coordination

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STAFFING
Staffing involves manning the organizational structure through proper and effective appraisal ,selection and development of people to fill the roles designed into the structure. Staffing is also known as Human Resource Management. In other words, it is the management function devoted to acquiring, training, appraising, and compensating employees.
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Staffing process involves:

1)Development of organizational structure.

2) Assessment of manpower required and available. 3) Assessment of their quality, qualification and skills for the job. 4) Appraisal Strength and shortcomings 5) Conduct development programs.

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DIRECTING.
Directing involves the initiation of action It contains motivation, communication and leadership, supervision. Leading is the process of influencing people so that they will contribute to organization and group goals.

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CONTROLLING. This is the measurement and correction of performance in order to ensure that enterprise objectives and plans devised to attain them are accomplished. Controlling is a function of every manager both at lower and upper level since all have responsibility for the execution of plans. In controlling we must:
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 Establish standardsThese are criteria for performance used by managers to measure performance since managers cannot usually watch everything being done within an organization.

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 Measure performanceThis should be on a forward looking basis so that deviations may be detected in advance of their occurrence and avoided by appropriate actions. This is through detection of probable departures from standards.

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 Correct deviations Standards should reflect the various positions in an organization structure. Managers may correct deviations by redrawing their plans or by modifying their goals. They may also correct by exercising their organizing function through reassignment or clarification of duties.
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 They may correct also by additional staffing, better selection and training of subordinate or by firing staff. Standards set may be physical like labor hours per unit produced, may be cost standards like cost per unit produced or revenue standards like sales per customer. For control to be effective there must be real time feedback.
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