Organizations that Fail to Plan Are Planning to Fail - Coursework Example

ORGANIZATIONS THAT FAIL TO PLAN ARE PLANNING TO FAIL Introduction Organization management entails various processes and planning is just among them but very key to the success (or failure) of such a business. This paper agrees with the statement that when a business entity fails to appreciate planning as a prerequisite to its success then failure becomes an ultimatum to the organization. However, one would ask what exactly planning entails and how in its simplicity would contribute towards the success of a business venture. This therefore forms the theme of this paper and thus, from consulting different points of reason from literature, this paper intends to justify this position of argument that ‘organizations have no two ways about planning but only to plan’. The argument is therefore that, although the statement seems like a cliché, much truth holds and successful business operations must embrace proper planning. Discussion The planning process of an organization involves, among other things, strategic analysis of the industry within which a business operates in order to establish the opportunities available, level of competition as well as resource endowment (Ahmed, 2013, p. 11—12). It is in the process of planning that a business forecasts on future performances as basic to survival of the business within the industry. Changes are inevitable within business environment and these changes require that a trading organization plan before hand in order to gain advantage in time and momentum for addressing issues arising. It is important to understand that businesses operate in cycles where at some point, the organization records very good performance (during boom) while at other times, during the recession, the performance is very poor and at other instances, it stagnates. The success or the healthy performance of any organization depends on the capacity of the management to have in place right plans, which work as blueprints for future performance. In order for an organization to avoid stalling and subsequent collapse, strategic planning is prerequisite. An organization should therefore not rely on opportunistic or accidental success as this would not enable the organization realize on own objectives effectively. However, it is acknowledged that succeeding for organizations without planning is common but a paramount question holds as to whether the success would be sustained and whether the levels of success would be different with proper planning. Among other important components of an organization is the human resource, which comprises of all persons involved in the organization at all levels (Akhigbe, 2013, p. 386-390). For instance, employees are motivated not only by the paychecks they receive but also by the plans in place. Without proper planning, employees fail to perceive the future of an organization they therefore become uncertain of the future which makes them fear the unpredictability. This therefore positions an organization at a risk of failing and the only remedy is on planning. Running of an organization involves among other practices management of risks, adoption and formulation of right policies as well as embracing the right practices. A ‘plan’ refers to a pre-prepared proposal aimed at guiding one in doing and achieving an objective in the future and this shows that planning is not only a rational practice in trading organization but rather to all spheres of life (Harrison, 1995, p. 14). Therefore, planning process with organizations involves outlining what an organization does, why and how the organization is to do what as well as timing of the doing. Such a plan facilitates working together of all persons involved within the organization for a common goal. Planning in organizations, just as is the case with personal planning contributes to efficiency and effectiveness in use of resources, reduction of uncertainties and increases likelihood of succeeding. This therefore supports the argument that the failure to plan would lead to failure in an organization hence the absolute need for such proper planning. Basic responsibilities of an organizational plan is on what is to be done, by who and when as prerequisite to motivating as well as involving all stakeholders within an organization. A plan also aids in benchmarking by an organization besides its relevance in monitoring organizational performances. It also serves to stimulate people towards working corporately towards common goals and thus acts as a roadmap towards organizational success (Galbraith, 1983, p. 63). It is paramount to note that investments for any organization involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Succumbing to the risks and uncertainties implies that an organization is therefore bound to fail and the surest tool to overcome such is in proper planning. Through proper planning an organization, enjoy proper articulation on commercial priorities as well as on directional focus. An organization would fail to realize articulations in performance by applying energy and focus if the actions and energy are not rightfully aligned through proper planning (Atkinson, 2004, p. 14-18). Shaping the future of an organization through factors that can be put under control is hence more desirable than realizing success without considering such manageable factors. On the other hand, planning has been used as an indicator of professionalism in organizational management. Solheim (2006, para 1-4) shows that a business plan (for trading organizations) or general plans for any organization are the most important features that an organization must consider in order to be relevant and to achieve desired goals. In fact, the report points out that a plan is as prerequisite as any other resource that is pursued even before establishing an organization. There is however, a common perception among many people that a plan is quite a complicated thing and this makes planning become complex processes. However, as Solheim a reason, planning is just a simple yet very fundamental process within an organization and hence should be approached with all diligence and simplicity in order to avoid miss-understanding of the process. Any perception of rightfulness and or wrongness of a plan for an organization depend on correctness of future guessing. However, it should be clear that planning does not necessarily imply guessing because factual information about future projections should be used in articulating the future in resource utilization as well as the projection of future. Organizations which are serious and strategic in finding solutions to their problems adopt a plan as the basic tool. From this reasoning, whenever such an organization fail to prepare and implement a plan, the risk of failure supersedes the likelihood of success. This also indirectly conquers with the theme of this paper that when an organization runs without a pan, indirect, the organization is already planned to fail. Plans that organizations make are many and all have particular importance. For instance, when an organization intends to invest, an investment plan is prerequisite to the success of such an investment. In the event that an organization ventures into investments without proper consultation of such a predefined plan, the likelihood of failure of such a venture to bear the required fruits increases. Another example of a plan that organizations adopt are transition plan. The purpose of perpetuity of an organization often has different teams taking charge of the organization at a particular time with succession from time to time (Richards, 2011, para 1-7). An organization therefore requires a plan on the eventualities in the process of transition from one team to another as prerequisite to facilitation of a smooth transition. Likewise, without planning for such an eventuality, the likelihood of the organization to collapse increases and hence indirectly shows that the organization planned to fail when it failed to plan. Besides, organizations vary in the nature of operations where in most instances; the operations of organizations are structured against fixed time frames. In order for an organization to realize the objectives intended, there is the need to have a structure or a work sheet through which pursuing the objectives would be base. Such a worksheet would be the plan and without it, the organization runs at risk of failing to realize objectives as set. A plan would therefore be seen as a tool through which proper management of time and resources would be realized. In conclusion, therefore, understanding the process of planning has the simple meaning of plan at core which is shown as the deliberate forecasting of organizational intentions against time and resources. Though appearing as a mere says, the statement that organizational failure to plan is organizational plan to fail holds a lot of weight when analyzed critically. Regardless of the nature of operations for any organization, a clear outline of the expected future performance as shown through time and resources is not just a necessity but also a fundamental without which any organization would fail. A plan helps mobilization of common efforts by people within the organization towards a common outcome. According to the discussion above, planning is among other operations of an organization, especially the trading organizations. A basic plan outlines basics in management of resources and pursuit of organizational goals and hence the importance of the plan cannot be assumed. Although in often times organizations have been successful even without proper planning, it is evident that the risk of failure outruns the likelihood of such a success. Bibliography Ahmed M., 2013. “Organizations that fail to plan are planning to fail” viewed from < https://www.academia.edu/4632891/Organizations_that_fail_to_plan_are_planning_to_fail> Akhigbe, O.J. 2013, "Human Resource Planning: A Key Factor in Ensuring the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Organization", Journal of Emerging Trends in Economics and Management Sciences, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 388-396. Atkinson, P. 2004, "Strategy: Failing to plan is planning to fail", Management Services, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 14-18. Galbraith, J.R. 1983, "Strategy and Organization Planning", Human Resource Management (pre-1986), vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 63. Harrison, B.J. 1995, "Should your organization invest in strategic planning?", Fund raising management, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 14. Solheim, S. 2006, "Business Planning -- A plan in hand is key to success for businesses large and small", VARbusiness, vol. 22, no. 23, pp. 50. Richards, K. 2011, "Fail to plan, plan to fail", Financial Adviser, . 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