ABSTRACT
The reality of a school is one of complex interacting activities. There are contrasting perceptions of how these activities can be planned, monitored and controlled. Planning models can assist in devising policy and programmes. Management by Objectives (MBO) is a management technique based on a systems approach which has been found to be effective in identifying clear goals and purposes and negotiating how subsystems and individuals may contribute to achieving them. Planning for the total institution is likely to be more complex than planning for a subsidiary part or activity. Clearly strategic planning is addressing the broad purposes of the organisation. A school requires an organisational design which provides a framework for the activity through which it seeks to achieve its intentions. Organisation structures can be visible dimensions of the organisation which emerge from rational planning processes.
