VII.

Project Planning and

Development
Friday, 10 January 2020 2:21 pm

Objectives:
1. Discuss planning concepts.
2. Discuss the factors affecting planning.
3. Prepare a project plan

Planning
- Integrating a framework within which each of the functional plans may be tied together and an over-all plan is
developed for the entire organization (Acc. To George Steiner)
- May be viewed for 4 concepts:
1. Conceived as one dealing with futurity of present decisions indicating the observation that current decisions
are made in the light of their long-range consequences. It also signifies that future alternatives open to an
organization are investigated and carefully determined which are the basis upon which decisions are made
regarding preferred alternatives.
2. Considered a process which establishes objectives, defines strategies, policies and sequences of events to
achieve desired objectives. Planning in this sense defines the organization for implementing the planning
processes and equally important, insures an over-all review as well as evaluation of performance as feedback.
3. Philosophy applied to business. It is a system of thought and explains basic problems and supplies the basis
for an intelligent approach to their solution. Planning is an attitude of state of mind, a way of thinking - that
project into the future or "look ahead" with hope an optimism.
4. May be viewed in terms of structure, that is long - range in character. This consists of development of a
comprehension and reasonably uniform program of plans for the business company covering a long period of
time.

Definition
- Provides a framework for organizing resources, structuring a firm, and controlling activities.
- It is a formal process of:
1. Choosing an organizational mission and over-all objectives for both short-term and the long-run.
2. Devising the divisional departmental and individual objectives based on organizational objectives.
3. Choosing strategies and tactics to achieve those objectives.
4. Deciding on the allocation of resources to various objective strategies and tactics.
- Not all plans succeed. One major reason is the inability to provide the plans with considerate degree of
flexibility for the purpose of coping with uncertainty.
- A good plan must not be rigid but rather flexible in order that it will not lose its purpose in case of unexpected
developments.
- No matter how good a plan is, it cannot guarantee the success of any business.

Relevance
- Without planning, many managers enviably suffer from shortsightedness. They might do their work everyday
but they wouldn't be ready for changed conditions.
- It also becomes important because of shifting time dimension. That's why planning is utilized for these
objectives:
1. To off-set uncertainty and change.
- Know that the future is not certain; the further are the project in the future, the more difficult it is
to make decisions.
- Planning allows the organization to..
 Determine the constraints
 Specify the objectives
 Select the number of options
 Monitor and control the implementation
2. To focus attention on objectives.
- Planning is directed towards achieving objectives.
- In this way, it unifies the activities of the different parts of an organization to act as one party.

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 - In this way, it unifies the activities of the different parts of an organization to act as one party.
3. To gain economical and efficient operation.
- Planning minimizes costs.
- Its emphasis is on efficient and effective operations and consistency of procedures and methods.
4. To facilitate control.
- Managers cannot always check on the accomplishments or failures of their subordinates. It is
important to have goals against which to measure the performance of people and units.

Guidelines for Good Planning

These are the most repeated principles and guidelines to ensure good planning:
1. A plan should have specific objectives.
- It should be clear about what it intends to accomplish.
- It is important therefore that much attention to develop in defining the results of the plans.
2. A good plan should facilitate action.
- A plan without action remains a piece of paper, a figment of the imagination or a statement of
aspirations potentially alive but inactive and dormant.
- Good plans lead to good actions.
3. If many people are involved in planning, coordination and communication become very crucial.
- There is a need, therefore, for constant communication and revision of plans to arrive at realistic
target.
4. Planning is the first function of management prior to the functions of organizing, directing and
controlling. It is involved in all other functions.
5. Good plans are plans that may be constantly be improved, redrafted and re-planned.
- Improvement, redrafting and re-planning recognize the reality that many of the basic
assumptions upon which a plan is based may change as environmental factors of resources also
changed as environmental factors or resources also change.
6. Planning may be delegated to a formal planning staff.
- Or may be a full time job of planning officer, outside consultant or an officer and employee
themselves.
7. All plans are tentative. They are never final.
- Good plans should be flexible.
- As circumstances change an environmental factor may require totally ne approaches after one or
several years. New technology merge.
- Alternative course or action should always be considered and made ready for emergency
situation or crisis.
Factors affects planning
1. Conditions.
- In spite of dynamic nature of most businesses, they are nevertheless susceptible to marked changes
and development so much so that if they are unable to meet and sold them, many aspects of its
operations may become seriously impaired.
2. Time factor.
- In planning, the executive face a span of time which to carry out the plans into execution.
- The time aspect has a number of phases such as the following:
a. Time available to establish a plan before putting it into effect.
b. The time when the plan must take effect.
c. The time interval that must be provided in the plan.
d. The time allowed for revising or modifying the plan.
3. Resources available.
- The best plan would be unproductive of good results in the absence of available resources that the
business enterprise need for its continuous operation.
- A lack of raw materials from one time to another could cause a lag in production just as the business
could lose the market.
4. Skills and attitudes of management.
- One of the common causes behind the failure of planning as a process and moreover, as a function of
management in the absence of total involvement on the part of all levels in the planning process.
5. Political, social and environmental conditions.
- In a country which does not sanction the existence of private free enterprise, most planning is done by
the government.
- In the light of intelligent thinking in management-labor relations, many laws have been enacted by
various law-making bodies in the world where labor is vested with certain rights and accordingly
protected by the government.

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 protected by the government.
- Promotion and protection of the welfare of the people through an improvement of the social and
economic conditions of the community is also not overlooked.
6. Physical facilities.
- Modern production is anchored on the better use of existing plans and equipment through improved
science and technology.
- Manpower requirement are duly considered in an organizational plan of organizations, the same is true
with physical facilities that are needed for such purpose.
7. Collection and analysis of data.
- Planning depends for its effectiveness on the quality and quantity of data involve in the planning
process. Such information of date must be carefully organized, arranged and properly evaluated.

PLANNING PROCESS
- Planning is a multipurpose process. These stages like the management functions, are visible isolation since most
managers have several projects going at any given time. Some organizations do have formal planning.

Scan and analyze the environment

▪ The SWOT remains a popular method of looking at organization's current strength and weakness and its
potential opportunities and threats.
▪ Strengths and weaknesses refer to factors that are internal to the organization.
▪ Opportunities and threats are factors that are external.
▪ The internal environment consists of:
▪ Limited resources capital,
▪ Technology, and
▪ Skilled personnel
▪ The external environment relates to:
▪ Political condition
▪ Legal condition
▪ Economic condition
▪ Social condition
▪ Cultural condition
▪ Competition
SWOT
- a key tool to strategic planning process which can be a useful approach to planning
▪ Strengths
▪ Internal positive aspects that are under control upon which you may capitalize in planning.
▪ Weaknesses
▪ It is seeing what you could improve
▪ It refers to internal negative aspects that are under your control and that you may plan to improve.
▪ Opportunities
▪ It refers to positive external conditions that you do not control but of which you can plan to take
advantage of.
▪ Threats
▪ Refers to negative external condition that you do not control but they affect and of which you may be
able to lessen.
- Using this analysis, we can develop a plan that takes into consideration many different internal and external
factors and maximize the potentials of the strengths and opportunities while minimizing the impact of the
weaknesses and threats.

Internal Factors External Factors

Positive Strengths Opportunities
Negative Weaknesses Threats
Diagram of SWOT Analysis

Staffing
- For the performance of the staffing function to be effective, it has to be aided by certain standards.
- The main products of this stage are human resources policies and program plans.
- As the initial activity of staffing, planning involves:
▪ Human resource forecasting

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 ▪ Human resource forecasting
▪ Job analysis
▪ Policies and program formulation.

The Concept of a Project

- A project is created to address a specific concern, the need or concern usually requires immediate attention,
- It is undertaken to solve an existing or potential problem and/or take advantage of a rare opportunity that present
itself.
- The design of a project has well-defined outputs that are directly linked to a particular problem, need or concerns.
- A project follow a growth and development pattern that helps systemize and organize all the components, like
resources, efforts and activities.

Phases in the Project Life

1. Conception phase
2. Formation and approval phase
3. Start-up phase
4. Production phase
5. Post Production and Completion phase

- For the purpose of uniformity and evaluation of the project plan, the following format in matrix form may be used.

Title of Project
Goals

Area of Concern Objectives Strategies Persons Involved Time Frame Budget Expected Outcome

Format of Detailed Project Proposal

Part I. BASIC INFORMATION

A. Title of the Project

B. Researcher(s)

1. Name and Signature

2. Designation
3. Institution
4. Address
5. Tel. No.
6. Fax No.
7. E-mail Address

A. Implementing Agency
1. Lead Agency
2. Collaborating Agency(ies)

D. Project Duration
E. Project Location
F. Total Budget Requested

Part II. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

I. Rationale

II. Objectives

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III. Review of Related Literature

IV. Methodology
• Specify the project component (if applicable)
• Should contain the details of the project so that it can be evaluated whether the methods are feasible and will
achieve the objectives of the proposal.
• The following are recommended to be included:
- Factors of implementation (variable)
- Treatments to be used and lay-out
- Procedures; experimental design, replications, characteristics of experimental units (sites, number, area, etc.)
- Statistical analysis
- Specific management of the project (this includes specific features about the management of the project)
- Cultural practices
V. Work Plan Schedule
VI. Budgetary Requirements
VII. Project summary

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