Lesson 1: Management Functions

Planning

Before we look at how a business would incorporate planning into their business consider the planning of an event.


If you decided to have a birthday party for your friend, the first thing you need to do is make a plan.

Think of some of the things you would need to plan; then, click the word planning below. Do you agree with this list?

  • What kind of a party will it be? A lunch, dinner, evening event, etc.?
  • When will the party be?
  • Where will the party be?
  • How many people will be invited?
  • What activities will there be?
  • Who will be assigned to be in charge of the various activities?
  • What is the cost and how and/or who will pay for it?
  • Evaluation of the plan. Should it go ahead?
  • Refinement and implementation of the party.

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You may have had some of these, all of these, or even more things to plan than are listed above. When a business is organizing for the first time, restructuring, or trying to meet an objective, decision-makers must make a plan and think through several of these same questions.

Click the two tabs below to see the similarities.



  • What kind of a party will it be?

  • When will the party be?

  • Where will the party be?

  • How many people will be invited?

  • What activities will there be?

  • Who will be assigned to be in charge of the various activities?

  • What is the cost and how and/or who will pay for it?

  • Evaluation of the plan. Should it go ahead?

  • Refinement and implementation of the party.


  • What kind of business/goal/objective will it be? What are the products or services, etc.?

  • When will the business/objective begin?

  • Where will the business be located?

  • How many employees will the business need?

  • What goods and/or services will be provided? Who are the customers?

  • How many departments or managers are necessary?

  • What are the costs and are they reasonable?

  • Evaluation of the plan. Should it go ahead?

  • Refinement and implementation of the plan.


As you can see, a business manager needs to consider what, why, how, where, and when before implementing a plan.

Refer to the six steps of the planning process below.


Think about whether each step answers what, why, how, where, or when. Some of the steps may have more than one answer. Then, click the Step to check your answer.

The Planning Process


Step 1 Establishment of goals – purpose, mission, and objectives.

What, Why
Step 2 Analysis of the goals and development of various action plans to achieve the goals.

Why, How, When, Where
Step 3 Allocation of capital and human resources as well as consideration of the economic climate to determine if the plans are viable.

How, Who
Step 4 Refinement of the plan with clearly defined steps for implementation procedures and incorporating changes as required.
How
Step 5 Implementation of the plan

How, When
Step 6 Evaluation of results to see if, based on research, the plan should continue, be adjusted, or be abandoned.

When, How

Your answers could vary depending on how you were thinking about the organization of the plan. The important things to think about here are all the steps involved and all the questions that must be answered.