Question

Explain the different levels of planning within management and explain why each one of these plans are important to an organization. How would these plans be consider tools for managers?

Answer 1

There are three level of planning within management.

1. Strategic planning - Strategic planning is the art of formulating business strategies, implementing them, and evaluating their impact based on organizational objectives.

Strategic planning is important to an organization because it provides a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals. Strategic planning is a tool that is useful for guiding day-to-day decisions and also for evaluating progress and changing approaches when moving forward.

Manager develop the strategy or direction and action plan to achieve the goals of an organisation.so it is a tool for manager.

2. Operational planning - An Operational Plan is a highly detailed plan that provides a clear picture of how a team, section or department will contribute to the achievement of the organisation's goals. The operational plan maps out the day-to-day tasks required to run a business and cover.

The purpose of the Operational Plan is to provide organisation personnel with a clear picture of their tasks and responsibilities in line with the goals and objectives contained within the Strategic Plan. Basically, the Operational Plan is a plan for the implementation of strategies contained within the Strategic Plan.

Managers must plan the routine tasks of the department using a high level of detail with the help of operational planning.

3. Tactical planning - Tactical planning is done for setting short term goals and action plan in order to achieve the long term goals set by the strategic planning in a company.

Both short-term and long-term strategic plans become the framework for business leadersand managers to establish tactical plans for their particular segments of the organization. (Educational Portal, 2014). Without strong strategic plans, tactical plans will be weak which can lead to an organization that does not fully understand what objectives are needed to achieve goals. Strategic plans that are not understood allow for misapplied resources. . Tactical plans that are not based on a solid strategic plan foundation risk being more defined by how routine tasks are accomplished. When task operations determine how tactical plans are designed it is time to reevaluate how your strategic plan needs to be improved. Tactical Plans – Time to get the job done.

The effectiveness of tactical plans will be based on how well defined and how well communicated the strategic plan is across the organization. Unlike the strategic plans that are designed to impact the entire organization, tactical plans are concerned with how lower-level segments of an organization will achieve the goals of the strategic plan.