Planning Function of Management - Essay Example

Introduction Before going to evaluate the planning function of an oilfield company, let us get a better understanding of what planning actually is. Planning is one of the core functions of management. “Planning involves selecting company goals and department objectives, then finding ways of implementing them” (Hahn, 2011). Proper planning by the managers provides a number of benefits to their organizations, such as, avoidance of confusions, reduction of risks, improved production services, completion of tasks within deadlines, and correct use of all available resources.

Let us discuss planning function of management in some detail in order to know the role that it plays in the success of a company 2. Name of the Selected Company The company whose planning function we are going to evaluate is Schlumberger, which is an oilfield company. Employing over 110,000 employees from different parts of the world, Schlumberger is the world’s biggest oilfield services providing company. Schlumberger is a provider of different products and services to the energy sector of different countries.

Some of the core business operations of this company include managing geological data, locating hydrocarbons, construction of the wells, drilling, and managing lifecycle of the reservoirs. 3. Planning Function For the managers at Schlumberger, planning holds great importance in all processes of management. “At this stage, the company is given an objective” (Spindler, 2008). Planning means to recognize organizational goals and to develop proper strategies to meet those goals. Planning not only includes setting goals for the future but also includes development of tactics and strategies to meet those goals.

Wijesinghe (2010) states, “Planning requires administration to assess; where the company is presently set, and where it would be in the upcoming”. Managers at Schlumberger firmly believe that they cannot achieve desired goals without doing proper planning based on the analysis of facts and figures. Moreover, they also develop separate plans for different business operations. The reason is that every operation has a different set of requirements, so different type of planning needs to be done in the beginning of any specific operation to complete the operation successfully.

Rothbauer-Wanish (2009) states, “Planning may take time in the beginning, but it saves time and reduces difficulties that may occur in the future”. 3.1 Types of Planning For proper planning, managers consider many factors, such as, availability of resources, assessment of organizational environment, future trends of the oil and gas industry, assessment of industrial demands, and proper use of capital. At Schlumberger, managers need to do different types of planning to. Some of those types of planning include marketing planning, construction planning, production planning, and project planning.

Marketing planning means to develop appropriate strategies for the marketing of the company’s products and services. For marketing planning, Schlumberger’s managers consider 4Ps of the marketing mix to develop a proper marketing plan. For construction planning, managers consider different aspects of a project to develop a plan for that project. Some of the major aspects, which managers consider, include site of the project, needs of the client firm, geological survey, and feasibility of the project.

Production managers also do proper planning to enhance production services, such as, pipeline process services, well intervention