ABSTRACT

This chapter provides citations which explore the multiple meanings of the planning concept. They move away from the ideas of planning and national planning as relatively narrow and specific administrative processes, to much broader concepts of planning as a process of social or societal guidance with important economic, political, social-psychological, philosophical, and managerial implications. The chapter also provides a brief sampling of the extensive sociological and social-psychological literature of new years on the topic of social change. The sources, which consider the nature, dynamics, processes, strategies, and implications of social change in groups, organizations, and societies, provide a very important underpinning of any discussion of the national planning concept, particularly in their concern with theories and processes of planned change. The chapter explains a number of citations from the extensive variety of studies on the social implications of a society increasingly dominated by the steady advance of science, technology, and computerized and automated systems.