Just
like any other technique in the world planning also attracted lot of criticism
by various scholars for various reasons. Although planning is beneficial for
the business as it guides the management and employees to achieve the
objectives of the organization however, in many cases it lacks in certain
aspects which makes it a skeptical process. Many a times its expediency and
effectiveness is questioned for it is based on just uncertain facts, figures and
circumstances which in itself is questionable. Most important criticism comes
from the complications arising in the planning process. Some of the major
issues with planning are discussed here:
Uncertainty
about Future Events: Planning is concerned with future and
future is always uncertain, we cannot predict a 100% accurate future. Planning
is done in advance about the future based on certain assumptions and
information, but assumptions can be inaccurate and information can be
undependable leading to a major fail of planning process. Uncertainty of future
events or circumstances puts a major setback to planning as plans prepared in
advance based on forecasts may not be useful if the underlying assumptions
change, thus making the whole planning process worthless.
Expensive:
Planning
process is an intellectual process which involves hiring of professionals to
prepare base plan, investment of time and efforts of management to carry out
the planning process, financing and numerous other activities. All these
activities involve cost like payments to the professionals, payments for
collection of information, salary and other expenses. For an existing business
these expenditures are a part of the business and can be easily paid off however,
for a newly established business these expenditures can be arduous. Also in
some cases cost of planning surpasses the benefits from planning, any such
condition should be avoided and planning should only be implemented to such
extent where it is beneficial and not an encumbrance.
Lack
of Reliable Information: Planning always is based upon
facts, assumptions and information. The success of planning depends on these
information. When these are accurate the success of planning is remarkable, conversely
in the case of erroneous and non-reliable information, planning itself becomes
questionable. Thus, before considering any information, its accuracy and
reliability should be verified by the management as it may lead to far reaching
consequences, and in worst case can make the whole planning process a big fail.
Difficulty
in Selecting Alternatives: Planning is concerned with choosing
the ‘best’ alternative among different available alternatives. Here, ‘Best
Alternative’ is not precisely defined but is assumed to be the one with better
results, lower risk and cost. Policy makers or managers choose the best
alternative only after considering the future circumstances, results,
cost-benefit, risk and several other aspects. However, an alternative proving
to be the best one at present may not hold good in the future. Consequently, it
is very challenging to know which alternative would work wonders not only in
present but also in the future. Managers face this issue often making planning
process difficult.
Lack
of Managerial Ability: Planning is an intellectual process
requiring professional attitude, managerial ability and farsightedness. Success
of planning depends upon these traits of the management. Many a times, lack of
managerial ability may result in selection of impractical alternative, making
incorrect assumptions, investing pointless time and efforts to irrelevant
activities, etc. But then again,
managers are also human beings and may not always possess all such qualities,
also they are prone to making mistakes. In such situation planning process and
its success becomes debatable.
NOTE: Few more points would be discussed on
the topic “Limitations or Criticism of Planning” in the future Blog posts.
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