The Relationship between Planning and Control
Planning, also referred to as forethought, is a process of making necessary arrangements to achieve a certain goal (Berry 2017). While executing this plan, there should be controls in place to deal with any unexpected results. In turn, a manager must to plan strategically to control a company’s activities and deal with all hindrances to ensure that pre-set goals are reached. Therefore, any plan needs the proper control to be successfully implemented, which forms the direct relationship between the two terms.
The function of management is to plan and control activities and resources at all levels of an organization (Berry 2017). In turn, planning is the process, which eventually leads to results. For example, a careful study of the previous patterns and daily records can make the management more prepared for any unexpected turns (Berry 2017). It would ensure that an organization stands even when faced disastrous turn of events, which can be explained as control. Therefore, a management’s plan requires proper control to achieve the desired results.
Nokia, for instance, was a leading mobile phone manufacturer for close to three decades. The company dominated the market until the dominance of companies, such as Samsung, which is focused more on the production of smartphones using Android operating systems. Nokia’s management did not embrace new market needs and continued running on its Symbian operating system. However, Samsung made the necessary planning and signed a deal with Google that produced Android. Currently, Samsung has sold the highest number of smart phones of the Galaxy series. Even though Samsung faced a major blow when some of its phones had battery problems, the company recalled them. It might have been a loss on their end; but they stabilized and continued to run the business effectively. Therefore, Samsung’s success, unlike Nokia, can be attributed to a well-thought planning.
Indeed, there is a great relationship between planning and control. To be more specific, as were exemplified by the case of Samsung, the appropriate planning gives one a good grip on operations and provides the management ample time to prepare for any possible risk factors by setting contingencies in place. In turn, proper control helps actualize the goals of an initial plan. Therefore, it is crucial for any type of executives to ensure that they not only provide a good plan in their departments, but also focus on controlling them.
Reference
Berry, J. R. (2017, March 30). Discoverer. Retrieved from Management Diagnoses: http://www.discoverer.com/D4.html
