I. MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS AND RESOURCES PLANNING in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. This thought process is essential to the creation and refinement of a plan, or integration of it with other plans, that is, it combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them. The term is also used to describe the formal procedures used in such an endeavor, such as the creation of documents diagrams, or meetings to discuss the important issues to be addressed, the objectives to be met, and the strategy to be followed. Beyond this, planning has a different meaning depending on the political or economic context in which it is used. Two attitudes to planning need to be held in tension: on the one hand we need to be prepared for what may lie ahead, which may mean contingencies and flexible processes. On the other hand, our future is shaped by consequences of our own planning and actions. Overview: Planning is a process for accomplishing purpose. It is blue print of business growth and a road map of development. It helps in deciding objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is setting of goals on the basis of objectives and keeping in view the resources. What should a plan be? A plan should be a realistic view of the expectations. Depending upon the activities, a plan can be long range, intermediate range or short range. It is the framework within which it must operate. For management seeking external support, the plan is the most important document and key to growth. Preparation of a comprehensive plan will not guarantee success, but lack of a sound plan will almost certainly ensure failure. Purpose of Plan Just as no two organizations are alike, so also their plans. It is therefore important to prepare a plan keeping in view the necessities of the enterprise. A plan is an important aspect of business. It serves the following three critical functions: • Helps management to clarify, focus, and research their business's or project's development and prospects. • Provides a considered and logical framework within which a business can develop and pursue business strategies over the next three to five years. • Offers a benchmark against which actual performance can be measured and reviewed. Importance of the planning Process A plan can play a vital role in helping to avoid mistakes or recognize hidden opportunities. Preparing a satisfactory plan of the organization is essential. The planning process enables management to understand more clearly what they want to achieve, and how and when they can do it. A well-prepared business plan demonstrates that the managers know the business and that they have thought through its development in terms of products, management, finances, and most importantly, markets and competition. Planning helps in forecasting the future, makes the future visible to some extent. It bridges between where we are and where we want to go. Planning is looking ahead. Planning basics Essentials of planning Planning is not done off hand. It is prepared after careful and extensive research. For a comprehensive business plan, management has to 1. Clearly define the target / goal in writing. 1. It should be set by a person having authority. 2. The goal should be realistic. 3. It should be specific. 4. Acceptability 5. Easily measurable 2. Identify all the main issues which need to be addressed. 3. Review past performance. 4. Decide budgetary requirement. 5. Focus on matters of strategic importance. 6. What are requirements and how will they be met? 7. What will be the likely length of the plan and its structure? 8. Identify shortcomings in the concept and gaps. 9. Strategies for implementation. 10.Review periodically. Applications In organizations Planning is also a management process, concerned with defining goals for future organizational performance and deciding on the tasks and resources to be used in order to attain those goals. To meet the goals, managers may develop plans such as a business plan or a marketing plan. Planning always has a purpose. The purpose may be achievement of certain goals or targets. The planning helps to achieve these goals or target by using the available time and resources. To minimize the timing and resources also require proper planning. The concept of planning is to identify what the organization wants to do by using the four questions which are “where are we today in terms of our business or strategy planning? Where are going? Where do we want to go? How are we going to get there? [1] In public policy Planning refers to the practice and the profession associated with the idea of planning an idea yourself, (land use planning, urban planning or spatial planning). In many countries, the operation of a town and country planning system is often referred to as 'planning' and the professionals which operate the system are known as 'planners'....... It is a conscious as well as sub-conscious activity. It is “an anticipatory decision making process ” that helps in coping with complexities. It is deciding future course of action from amongst alternatives. It is a process that involves making and evaluating each set of interrelated decisions. It is selection of missions, objectives and “ translation of knowledge into action.” A planned performance brings better results compared to unplanned one. A Managers’ job is planning, monitoring and controlling. Planning and goal setting are important traits of an organization. It is done at all levels of the organization. Planning includes the plan, the thought process, action, and implementation.Planning gives more power over the future. Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it. It bridges the gap from where the organization is to where it wants to be. The planning function involves establishing goals and arranging them in logical order. ORGANIZING is the act of rearranging elements following one or more rules. Anything is commonly considered organized when it looks like everything has a correct order or placement. But it's only ultimately organized if any element has no difference on time taken to find it. In that sense, organizing can also be defined as to place different objects in logical arrangement for better searching. Organizations are groups of people frequently trying to organize some specific subject, such as political issues. So, even while organizing can be viewed as a simple definition, it can get as complex as organizing the world's information. History Historically, humanity has always tried to organize itself. The organizing of information can be seen since the time humans began to write. Prior to that, history was passed down through song and word. Be it with religion, books and spoken word, science, through journals and studies, or in many other ways, organizing not only is history, but also helps communicate history. Writing ideas in a book, as opposed to verbally communicating with someone, and more specifically cataloging ideas and thoughts, is also an attempt to organize information. Science books are notable by their organization of a specific subject. Encyclopedias, instead, usually try to organize any subject into one place, for faster indexing and seeking of meanings. Nature of organization The following are the important characteristics of organisation. Division of work or specialization The entire philosophy of organisation depends on the concept of specialization. In specialization, various activities are assigned to different people who are specialists in that area. Specialization improves efficiency. Thus, organisation helps in division of work and assigning duties to different people. Orientation towards goals Every organisation has its own purposes and objectives. Organizing is the function employed to achieve the overall goals of the organisation. Organisation harmonies the individual goals of the employees with overall objectives of the firm. Composition of individuals and groups Individuals form a group and the groups form an organisation. Thus, organisation is the composition of individual and groups. Individuals are grouped into departments and their work is coordinated and directed towards organizational goals. Differentiated functions The organisation divides the entire work and assigns the tasks to individual in-order to achieve the organizational objectives each one has to perform a different task and tasks of one individuals must be coordinated with the tasks of others. Continues process An organization is a group of people with defined relationship to each other that allows them to work together achieve the goals of the organisation. This relationship do not come to end after completing a task. Organisation is a never ending process. Purpose or importance of organization Helps to achieve organizational goal Organization is employed to achieve the overall objectives of business firms. Organization focuses attention of individuals objectives towards overall objectives. Optimum use of resources To make optimum use of resources such as men, material, money, machine and method, it is necessary to design an organization properly. Work should be divided and right people should be given right jobs to reduce the wastage of resources in an organization. To perform managerial function Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling cannot be implemented without proper organization. Facilitates growth and diversification A good organization structure is essential for expanding business activity. Organization structure determines the input resources needed for expansion of a business activity similarly organization is essential for product diversification such as establishing a new product line. Human treatment of employees Organization has to operate for the betterment of employees an must not encourage monotony of work due to higher degree of specialization.