Commerce: Management Functions: Planning

• In the introduction we looked at management is
• To reiterate management can be defined as doing work through others
• It can also be defined in terms of the functions/duties of a manager
• Management as an organisational/business activity that involves the planning, organizing, leading/commanding, controlling and coordinating of the organisation’s activities so as to make sure the organisation’s objectives are achieved in an efficient and effective manner
• These are also known as the five functions of management
• In this section, we will look at what planning involves
• Planning is one of the five functions of management
• A plan is a predetermined course of action designed to give purpose to the organisation’s activities
• Examples of plans include budgets and forecasts that management has to make at the beginning of each trading period
• Now that we have defined what a plan is we can go on to define planning
• Planning is the management function concerned with identifying, anticipating and defining goals and objectives for future performance
• It involves determining the organisation’s/business’s desired future and planning a course on how to get there
• Planning involves things like making budgets and setting objectives
• Budgets are the organisation’s financial plans such as the sales, purchases and expenses that the business in question anticipates in the coming period
• Objectives might involve things like whether the business wants to open new branches, increase sales etc
• Planning gives the business a sense of direction and a reason for existing
• Once plans have been set managers can move on to the organising function

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