Prepared by

PLANNING Rajalakshmi.S
5th Batch of Msc.Nursing

[POSDCORB] Josco College of Nursing,

Edappon
Mavelikara,Alappuzha
INTRODUCTION
Meaning:- A plan is forecast for accomplishment.
Planning is the foremost function of nursing management.

Planning is the foundation of nursing management as the other functions of nursing

management., viz. organizing, staffing, directing and controlling.

Management
Management

Organization Staffing Directing Controlling

Planning
CONCEPT OF PLANNING
Planning is considered as a process which involves the determination of future course

of action, i.e. why an action, what action, how to take action, when to take action.

In order to achieve the objectives of nursing organization, planning is the first step in

the management function. As it precedes the execution of all other managerial

functions because it provides the frame of reference for future decisions, reduces

overall impact of changes and allows nurse manager to organize, staff, direct and

control the activities necessary to accomplish the nursing organizational objectives.

DEFINITIONS OF PLANNING
Planning is the act or process of making plans for something

Oxford dictionary

Planning means the determination of what is to b done, how and where it is to be

done, who is to do it and how results are to be evaluated.

James Lundy

Planning is the function of a manager, which involves the selection from among
alternatives for the enterprise as a whole and each department within it.
Koontz and O’ Donnell
NATURE OF PLANNING
Goal oriented

Basic to all managerial functions

Futuristic or forward looking

Involves selection of suitable course of

action

Flexible

Continuous process

Intellectual process

Planning process must allow flexibility

to meet the new challenges
APPROACHES TO PLANNING

Rational approach

Open system approach

Pervasiveness approach
Rational approach
Planning as rational approach tries to fill the gap between actual status and desired status.
Planning is a rational approach for defining where one stands, where one wants to go in
future, and how to reach there.
Status Desired status

Gap

Status Planning required

Current status T1 T2
Time
Open system approach

 It takes inputs from the environment, processes these, and exports outputs to
environment.

The open system approach of planning indicates that the identification of gap
between current status and desired status in future and the action required to bridge
this gap is influenced by a variety of environmental factors- economic, political –
legal, technological, socio-cultural, and competitive.

These factors are dynamic and change with the time. Therefore, while adopting open
system approach in planning, manager have to take into account the dynamic
features of the environment.
Pervasiveness of planning

Planning is pervasive and extends throughout the organization.

Every manager has a planning function to perform.

Manager devote more of their time to planning and work with more vital issues than
the managers of the middle and lower level do.
PLANNING PROCESS
Identification of situation

Formulation of objective

Developing premises or conditions

Identification of alternatives

Evaluation of alternatives

Selection of the best possible alternatives

Formulation of supporting plans

Defining various activities and preparation of action plans

Communication of plans and securing cooperation

Follow up and review

TYPES OF PLANNING
Time period involved
• Long term and Short term

Approach used
• Proactive and Reactive

Degree of formalization
• Formal and Informal

Importance of content matters

• Strategic and Operational

Coverage of activities
• corporate and Functional planning
Long term and Short term plans :
Long term planning involves more than one year period.
The planning of functional area is long term, where the environmental factors are
considered at the time of planning.
Short term planning is also known as tactile planning, usually covers one year.
Why is the action required?
What action to be taken?
What will be the action accomplish?
What are the results of the action required?
What objectives and conditions must be meet?
Proactive and Reactive:

Proactive planning is the ‘planning in anticipation’. Organization that use proactive

planning use broad planning approaches, broad environmental scanning,
decentralized control, and reserve some resources to be utilized for their future use.
These organizations do not wait for environment to change but take actions in
advance of environmental change. In India, companies like Reliance Industries,
Hindustan Lever, etc. have adopted this approach and their growth rate has been
much faster than others.

In reactive planning, organizations response comes after the environmental changes

have taken place. After the changes take place , these organizations start planning.
Formal and Informal planning:

Formal planning is in the form of well structured process involving different steps.
Generally, large organizations undertake planning in formal way in which they create
separate corporate planning cell placed at sufficiently high level in the organization.
Generally such cells are staffed by people with different backgrounds like engineers,
statisticians, MBAs, economists, etc. depending on the organizations business.

Informal planning : As against formal planning, informal planning is undertaken,

generally, by smaller organizations. The planning process is based on managers
memory of events, institutions and gut feelings rather than based on systematic
evaluation of environmental happenings.
STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL PLANNING
STRATEGIC PLANNING :
Strategic planning and long range planning is undertaken by the top level which involves
following activities.
1. Detail analysis of strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of
organization both internal and external environment.
2. Developing philosophy and formulations of policies and objectives on the basis of
analysis the organization.
3. Allocation of resources on the basis of priority.
4. Evaluation of activities to increase efficiency.
5. Providing proper direction to avoid duplication of services.
Meaning:

 Process to establish priorities on what you will accomplish in the future.

Nature of strategy planning

 A strategy is an overall approach and plan.

 Facilitates the good management of a process.

 It takes you outside the day to day activities of your organizations or project.

 It provides you with the big picture of what you are doing and where you are
going.

 It gives you clarity about what you actually want to achieve and how to go about
achieving it, rather than a plan of action for day to day operations.
Need of strategy planning
It improves performance
Counter excessive inward and short term thinking
Solve major issues a macro level
Communicate to everyone what is most important
Characteristics of strategy planning
Address critical performance issues
Create the right balance between what the organization is capable of doing vs. What
the organization would like to do.
Cover a sufficient time period to close the performance gap
Flexible
Guide decision making at lower levels
Elements of strategic plan
Analysis
Choice
Implementation
Evaluation
Benefits of strategic planning
It serve as the road map to the work
It utilize the resources in best manner
It responds to environmental changes
Decreases the chances of mistakes
Provide a framework for communication
Guide
Gives a picture of employees in an organization
 TOOLS

1. SWOT ANALYSIS

2. BALANCED SCORECARD

3. STRATEGY MAPS
SWOT ANALYSIS
BALANCED SCORECARD

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is a PERSPECTIVES OF BSC

strategic approach and performance Financial
measurement analysis tool that enables
Customer
organizations to translate a company’s

vision, mission, and strategy into Business process

implementation. Learning and growth
STRATEGY MAPS
Strategy maps are diagrams that describe how an organization creates values

through connecting strategic objectives in cause and effective relationships through

the implementation of the balanced scorecard perspective: finance, customer, business

process, learning and growth. Strategic maps are part of the balanced scorecard

framework to identify strategies for value creation.

OPERATIONAL PLANNING

This operational and short range planning is undertaken by middle or supervisory

level personnel. This involves

Planning for a few months to a financial year.

Planning for details budgeting, provision for short range goods and it should be
achieved within given period.

Extensional aspect of long range plan.

Operational plans should contain

1. Clear objectives

2. Activities to be delivered

3. Quality standards

4. Desired outcomes

5. Staffing and resource requirements

6. Implementation timetables

7. A process for monitoring progress

CORPORATE AND FUNCTIONALPLANNING
Corporate planning

The term corporate planning denotes planning activities at the top levels, also known

as corporate level,which cover the entire organizational activities

The basic focus of corporate planning is to determine the long term objectives of the

organization as a whole, and then to generate plans to achieve these objectives

bearing in mind the probable change in environment.

Functional planning

As against corporate planning which is integrative, functional planning is segmental,

and it is undertaken for each major function of the organization like production/

operation, marketing, finance, human resource/ personnel, etc.

REFERENCE

Jogindra Vati, Principles & Practice of Nursing Management & Administration For BSc & MSc

Nursing, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, New Delhi

L M Prasad, Principles and Practice of Management, Sultan Chand & Sons Educational

Publishers, New Delhi

Deepak K, A Comprehensive text book on Nursing management, Emmess Medical

Publishers, Banglore