The urgency of planning grows in market conditions as a result of the search for rational and effective ways for a company to survive in conditions of instability. It is the main element in the activities of a company of any organizational and legal form. Planning covers all aspects of the functioning of the company, and therefore there are many forms and types of it.
Essence of concepts
A plan is a document that is a blueprint for the future that the company wants to see in a certain period of time (as a result), containing effective means for its implementation. The main feature of the plan is its purposefulness, since it is designed in such a way as to ensure the effective implementation of the goal. It should provide what actions will lead to the intended goal.
The second important feature of the process: it is the basis of all other management functions, because without such a process there is no successful organization, management of humanresources and control.
Another important feature of the process is its completeness. This means that the process should be a function of every manager at every level of management, then it becomes a useful tool for achieving goals. Plans created at various levels of decision making in an organization need to be integrated with each other to help make good decisions, achieve goals, and monitor them on an ongoing basis.
The last rule is that plans must be effective in implementation. This happens when their implementation achieves the goal with a minimum of undesirable consequences and with results that exceed costs.
The plan should provide a rationale on which to base management's decision to allocate funds to necessary expenditures without having to go into the details. The plan should be as short as possible - no more than 6-8 pages (excluding diagrams and other presentations). Too many details hide the big picture.
If, for example, a product plan is to be presented verbally at a meeting or meeting, the product manager must be available to answer any questions. For members of senior management, nothing is more frustrating than having a meeting extended or even postponed because the manager was not prepared for it.
The written version of the plan should include historical results, information about identified risks and opportunities, sales forecasts, established targets, the impact of sales on the profit and loss account, marketinggoals set for the product or its line, as well as precise strategies to achieve the goals. It should include charts (financial reports) that will allow you to quickly evaluate the program, as well as its impact on the situation in the company.
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The subject of planning are the goals (final and intermediate, the desired state of affairs), to which the company has tasks, ways to achieve these goals, the necessary resources (personal, material, financial, informational).
In general, the process itself includes forms of forecasting, forms of work planning.
Forecasting is based on a scientific study of future phenomena and processes, because process data is information about the most probable shape of the future. The plan as a set of decisions implies the active development of the company.
Programming is a set of activities aimed at establishing a formal description of the goals of the organization and determining the best ways to implement them. Creating a plan also includes designing the future activities of the company. It differs from programming primarily in that several programs (options) are developed, and the plan is one.
This document is mandatory in organizations while the forecast is postulate.
A plan is a set of decisions made, while a forecast indicates directions and ways to achieve goals.
Species classificationand forms
There are many classifications according to different types and forms of planning. The division of plans according to a subjective criterion concerns those options that are prepared by the enterprise itself. Plans are created for the needs of an organizational unit (for example, marketing department, finance department), an enterprise (for example, a branch of a company), or an entire organization (company).
According to the criterion of classification by scale, the following forms are distinguished: fragmentation plans and problems.
The first of these covers a narrow area of problems or one area (for example, a document promoting company services).
Problem plans cover more issues and take into account all the data that determine the success of the company's main goal (for example, the forecast of advertising activities, taking into account the budget of funds allocated for this purpose, and potential directions for the development of the volume of services provided by the company).
Planning in a company predetermines its own set of tools, forms and methods. Among the main methods, one can single out: balance, experimental-statistical, normative, economic-mathematical. These methods can be applied to different forms of documents.
The main types and forms of planning are: strategic, tactical, operational, marketing, financial, business planning.
Financial planning characteristics
The main points that determine the value of planning as a process are finances. This type of document is based on the followingSpecifications:
- company financial resources;
- amounts and types of financial demand;
- investment structure - long-term and short-term;
- amounts of necessary money supply and investment terms;
- required credit guarantees;
- company balance sheet, expected profit and planned cash flow (including start-up costs, operating expenses and profitability);
- loan repayment project;
- last year's income and taxes (depending on bank requirements);
- prospective financial forecast for the company - from 3 to 5 years;
- company's balance sheet, i.e. assets and liabilities.
Marketing planning characteristics
The form of marketing planning and forecasting includes a written document in which goals are set, means are chosen to achieve them, the scope of employee responsibility is fixed, the budget and control methods are determined. It is primarily a document that focuses on current and operational issues. However, it should be remembered that it must be linked to the long-term development strategy of the enterprise.
Marketing planning allows a company to organize its activities, link them to objectives, and measure effectiveness and efficiency. As a rule, such a document is created for one year due to the need to calculate the consequences at enterprises.
Rules for creating a marketing document:
- analysis of the situation;
- goal setting;
- selection of tools for the implementation of tasks;
- budgeting;
- determining the schedule of events and tasks;
- execution control.
Characteristics of strategic planning
The strategic plan is central among species and forms. It can be defined as a set of decisions about the main, directed goals of the enterprise, resources and methods needed to achieve them.
Strategic planning deals with decisions that have long-term consequences that cannot be changed. As for the subject of the decision, they mainly reflect the areas of activity in which the enterprise wants to operate and the concepts (strategies) of competition in certain areas.
Field of business means the market and product types, while the choice of the concept of competition is about determining one's own strategic position or method of gaining a competitive advantage in certain areas of activity. It is necessary to determine, for example, whether to become a leading supplier in the market for standard products due to a low (competitive) price. This is the strategy of the cost leader. Or you can create your own product with some special characteristics, which is the differentiation strategy.
Strategic planning is of great importance for the company, as it is the main way to determine the direction, scale and structure of the company's development. It is carried out mainly by the highest bodies of the company and is carried out with a relatively high frequency.
Tactical planning characteristics
A tactical plan among types and forms is a set of decisions that define goals that are indirectly related to the tasks formulated in a strategic document. The plan also includes measures regarding the rules for the allocation of resources in accordance with current tasks and the definition of rules for their effective use in the implementation of these tasks.
Features of operational planning
An operational option as a form of organizing planning is a set of decisions that define specific tasks and actions necessary for their correct implementation at strictly stipulated time and conditions that must be observed when fulfilling individual goals and activities (technological, economic, organizational), as well as external conditions (such as environmental protection).
The subject of operational planning are all decisions that must be made on an ongoing basis in various areas of the company's activities in order to implement the strategy in a timely and effective manner and ensure the survival and development of the company.
Features of business planning
Business forecast is a special form and method of company development planning. A business plan is a forecast document for the realization of the company's interests. Can be classified as follows: external and internal.
The external business plan is used to raise funds in the implementation of both a strategic forecast (for example, a development document) andoperating document (for example, a compensation plan). It is addressed to various external actors (clients, authorities, public opinion), where it should create an appropriate image of the company and its development prospects.
The internal business plan serves directly to manage or improve management and concerns individual units, not all activities.
A good business plan should contain the following elements:
- executive summary;
- market and competition analysis;
- description of the company and its activities;
- offer format and method of its implementation (description of the marketing strategy);
- company organizational profile;
- technical profile;
- financial document;
- assumptions and risks, that is, analysis of the weaknesses of this business (SWOT analysis);
- work schedule.
Basic forms of time planning
In connection with the planning horizon, we can distinguish between the following types of processes: long-term (perspective), short-term (current) and medium-term (long-term - 2-3-5 years).
Long-term plans are about development activities, how the company will gain a competitive position, strengthen its market position, increase asset value, develop profile, nature of operations, etc. These plans are prepared for several or decades in advance. Therefore, they should be supplemented by short-term and medium-term plans. In such plans, it is easier to take into account the direction of changes in the environment, the operational objectives of the company,competitive movements or product market demands.
Characteristics of other types of planning
In addition to the main forms: tactical, strategic and operational, there is also a development of planning forms in the direction of random (situational) forecasting.
Random plans are usually problematic plans, the main task of which is to solve a specific problem or situation and improve certain areas of the company.
Periodic planning most often occurs in enterprises that are falling into decline and need to be revitalized (reorganized) or perform more serious tasks of developing forecast forms. Most often they deal with the development of restructuring plans (including corrective ones) and development prospects (including the so-called business forecasts).
Restructuring plans are often used in state-owned enterprises pursuing restructuring proceedings for firms in financial difficulty, and in enterprises tasked with managing contracts.
Development plans exist for enterprises applying for a bank loan for investment purposes, and for enterprises implementing large development projects (investment programs that require capital raising).
Features in education
The educational system provides for peculiar forms of planning according to the Federal State Educational Standard. Among them are:
- complex-thematic, whichconsists in a set of methods in accordance with the established program of education according to the standard;
- promising is a premature determination of the order and sequence of the stages of the educational process for the academic year;
- cyclogram - forecast of the organization of educational activities by age groups;
- calendar-thematic - early determination of the order of educational work, indicating the required methods, dates, standards and means.
Thus, the role of planning in its various forms and types for modern enterprises is great.
