ABSTRACT

Management planning describes the sequence of decisions associated with allocating resources to achieve predetermined objectives. ‘Planning’ has always been accepted as one of the cornerstones of management; the others suggested by Henri Fayol (1959), one of the founding fathers of business management, being: organization, co-ordination and control. Although the purpose of planning is ostensibly self evident, the process and its application remain enigmatic. Each of the other three functions has a more definite purpose – to organize . . . something; to co-ordinate . . . something; to control . . . something. We plan for something – some future event, future circumstances – above all to meet the uncertainties which the future holds. Most people have an aversion to uncertainty: it carries with it the prospect of chaos, rejection and isolation. There is a preference, therefore, for dealing with things which are inherently more ‘knowable’ than forecasting and investing in the future. This may explain, in part, why so little has been written about this pro-active branch of management.