Planning is the first function of management, and decision making runs through every function. Nayab Subba and Section Officer papers often ask for the steps of planning, the types of plans, Herbert Simon’s ideas and techniques such as brainstorming and SWOT. This note covers all of these with simple examples from government offices.
1. Meaning and features of planning
Koontz and O’Donnell: planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it and who is to do it.
It bridges the gap between where we are and where we want to go.
Features: it is the primary function of management, goal-oriented, future-oriented, continuous, pervasive (needed at all levels) and an intellectual process.
In Nepal, national development plans are prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC), chaired by the Prime Minister.
Long-term (over 5 years), medium-term (1 to 5 years), short-term (up to 1 year)
Use
Standing plans (used again and again) and single-use plans (used once)
Standing plans
Single-use plans
Policy: general guide for decisions
Programme: set of activities for a goal
Procedure: steps in order for a task
Budget: plan in money terms
Rule: what must or must not be done, no flexibility
Project: one-time task with set time and cost
3. Steps of planning
1. Being aware of opportunities and problems
2. Setting objectives
3. Developing planning premises (assumptions about the future)
4. Identifying alternative courses of action
5. Evaluating alternatives
6. Selecting the best alternative
7. Making supporting (derivative) plans
8. Preparing budgets and implementing, with follow-up
4. Decision making
Decision making is choosing the best option from available alternatives.
Herbert A. Simon said “decision making is the heart of administration”. His book Administrative Behavior appeared in 1947; he won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1978.
Simon gave the ideas of bounded rationality (people cannot know everything) and satisficing (choosing a good-enough option).
Steps: identify the problem → collect information → develop alternatives → evaluate → choose → implement → follow up.
Programmed decisions
Non-programmed decisions
Routine and repetitive
New, unusual and complex
Made by following rules and procedures
Need judgement and creativity
Usually by lower-level staff
Usually by top-level managers
Example: granting casual leave
Example: responding to a flood disaster
5. Techniques of decision making
Technique
Use
Brainstorming
Group produces many ideas freely without criticism; developed by Alex Osborn
Delphi technique
Experts give opinions anonymously in rounds until they agree; developed at RAND Corporation
Cost-benefit analysis
Compares the costs and benefits of each option
SWOT analysis
Studies Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
Decision tree
Diagram of choices and their possible results
Nominal group technique
Members write ideas alone, share them, then vote
6. Example: planning in a government office
A health office wants to raise child vaccination to 95%. It studies the current rate (situation analysis), sets the target (objective), considers options such as mobile clinics or school camps (alternatives), chooses mobile clinics (decision), prepares a budget and schedule (programme) and reviews monthly coverage (follow-up).
Decision type
Example
Programmed (routine)
Approving casual leave under the rules
Non-programmed
Responding to a sudden flood
Individual
Officer decides on a routine letter
Group
Committee selects a contractor
7. How this topic is asked in the exam
Objective items ask the steps of planning, types of plans and decision-making techniques such as brainstorming and Delphi. Subjective questions ask about the link between planning and decision making. Use an office example to show each step.
📌 Key points to remember
Planning: deciding in advance what, how, when and who (Koontz and O’Donnell).
Planning is primary, future-oriented, continuous and pervasive.
Strategic plans at top, tactical at middle, operational at lower level.
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