One of the primary responsibilities of managers is to decide where the organization should go in the future and how to get it there. Without clear goals and plans, employees cannot perform up to their potential and the organization flounders.
In some organizations, typically small ones, planning is informal. In others, managers follow a well-defined planning framework. The company establishes a basic mission and develops formal goals and strategic plans for carrying it.
strategic planning exercise each year—reviewing their missions, goals, and plans to meet environmental changes or the expectations of important stakeholders such as the community, owners, or customers. Many of these companies also develop contingency plans or scenarios for unexpected circumstances and disaster recovery plans for what the organization would do in the event of a major disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, or terrorist attack. Of the four management functions—planning, organizing, leaning, and Controlling are described planning is considered the most fundamental. Everything else stems from planning. Yet planning also is the most controversial
In the early start-up stage, formal planning tends to be nonexistent except for the business plan described earlier. The primary goal is simply to remain alive. As the organization grows, formal planning usually is not instituted until the success stage. Recall from the previous that planning means defining goals and deciding on the tasks and use of resources needed to attain them.
As we see the previous will describe how entrepreneurs can define goals and implement strategies and plans to meet them. It is important that entrepreneurs view their original business plan as a living document that evolves as the company grows or the market changes.
One planning concern for today’s small businesses is the need to be Web-savvy. For many small companies today, their Web operations are just as critical as traditional warehouse management or customer service operations. The growing importance of e-business means entrepreneurs have to plan and allocate resources for Internet operations from the beginning and grow those plans as the company grows. Of the small companies that have Web sites, more than half say the site has broken even or paid for itself in greater efficiency, improved customer relationships, or increased business.
Planning does not require perfection, but the better the plan, the more predictable the outcome. As in management, an architectural plan must have a goal and strategy formulation before crews and equipment can be hired and scheduled. In the case of Falling water, Wright’s
goal was to build a house that was a natural retreat and would fit the environment organically .As such, he utilized the natural surroundings, including stones from the original site and used cantilevered balconies to build the house over a running river and waterfall. The results were spectacular and are still considered a masterpiece of architectural design. However, Wright’s original plans did not call for enough reinforcement in the balconies. In the execution of the plan, the engineer increased the reinforcement, but even that was not enough to keep the balconies from sagging. Structural repairs were completed in 2002but would have been unnecessary if the original plan had been correct. However, the flaws were not beyond remedy, and the house is still considered a “master’s masterpiece.” Goal setting, planning, strategy formulation and implementation are ongoing for any company, large or small. No company can expect to devise the perfect plan, and while planning doesn’t have to be perfect, it does have to be done. Thankfully, even when planning results in unexpected or less than optimal results, usually the only mistake that cannot be rectified is not planning at all.