Planning is a mental process that requires the use of intellectual faculties, foresight, and sound judgment. Strategic planning entails putting forward ideas that form a comprehensive and integrated plan that gives an advantage to the company against environmental challenges. The process of planning consists of various procedures. The first step is the determination of objectives. These are the end-points of planning and are established to guide the efforts of an organization and all its constituents (Yow, 2000). This is followed by forecasting and the choice of a course of action. A plan is a relevant synthesis of various forecasts. Choices are made after the evaluation of alternative courses of action.
Formulation of policies includes programming, budgeting, and preparation of schedules. This is another process of planning. It defines the limits within which decisions are made. Laying down the procedures and standards of performance comes at the tail end of planning (Lock, 2007). Planning is very important because it helps an organization in many ways. Planning concentrates the focus on the dominant goals of the organization. It enables the firm to cope with uncertainty, change, and by predicting the future; it helps the company in preparations.
Control as a process serves to move the organization in the direction of achieving goals. Thus, it aligns the actual performance to conform to the planned performance (Gardner, 2005). The process of controlling establishes standards of measuring performance and institutes corrective actions. This stimulates action within the organization. It facilitates decentralization and helps the management to check progress.
References
Gardner, P. (2005). Strategic Planning Approach. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lock, D. (2007). Project Management. United Kingdom: Gower publishers.
Yow, D. (2000). Strategic Planning for College Athletics. New York: Binghamton publishers.
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