1.The process of outlining the activities that are necessary to achieve the goals of the organization.2.

There are four benefits of planning.First,Better Coordination.Planning provides a foundation for the coordination of a broad range of organizational activities.A plan helps to define the responsibilities of individuals and work groups and helps coordinate their activities.Second,Focus on Forward Thinking.The planning function forces managers to think ahead and consider resource needs and potential opportunities or threats that the organization may face in the future.Third,Participatory Work Environment.Successful planning requires the participation of a wide range of organizational members.More access to a broad base of experience and knowledge in the planning process and more buy inof organizational members are more likely to accept a plan that they have helped develop.Fourth,More Effective Control Systems.An organizations plan provides a foundation for control of the processes and progress of the company.The implementation of the plan can be evaluated and progress toward the achievement of performance objectives can be monitored and controls provide mechanism for ensuring that the organization is moving in the right direction and making progress toward achieve its goals.3.There are three levels of strategic planning that are most organization engage.First,Corporate Strategy that have few characteristics such as diversification.An organization adding new products, services, or businesses.Unrelated diversification,adding products, services, or businesses that are different from the ones an organization currently has.Related diversification,Adding products, services, or businesses that have some relationship to the ones an organization currently has or share a core competency.Second,Business Strategic Planning that are consists two characteristics such as Business-level Strategy