Planning

Planning gives a clear direction to action because it states in advance how work is to be done. When objectives are clearly set, employees know what the organisation wants to achieve and what they must do. This helps different departments and individuals work in coordination towards the same goals.

Ms Rajni has listed different possible ways to achieve the objective, such as entering new markets, expanding product range, and increasing advertising. This is the step of identifying alternative courses of action in the planning process.

Rules are considered plans because they are specific statements that tell what is to be done. They are part of planning since they guide action and leave no flexibility or discretion. In this way, rules help managers and employees decide and act in a fixed manner to achieve organisational objectives.

Making all payments by e-transfers only is a specific statement about what must be done. Such a fixed instruction is a rule.

No, planning does not work perfectly in a changing environment because the business environment is dynamic and nothing is constant. Changes in economic, political, legal, social or natural conditions may upset plans, so plans often need to be modified. Planning cannot foresee everything.

The main aspects of the definition of planning are:

- Setting objectives for a given time period
- Formulating various courses of action to achieve those objectives
- Selecting the best possible alternative from among the available courses of action

So, planning is deciding in advance what to do and how to do it.

Planning does not ensure success because a plan must be properly drawn up and implemented. Many unknown factors may affect results, and managers may wrongly depend on previously successful plans. Also, a plan can fail if future conditions change or if the plan is not translated into action.