Question

One day, the management instructor of BBA classes organised a "Panel Discussion" on important topics of management. The students were given the following clues for discussion. Each student was given 3 minutes for elaborating on the clues given below:
Clue 1 : They are inseparable twins.
Clue 2 : They are inter-dependent, inter-related and reinforce each other.
Clue 3 : They both are forward as well as backward looking.
1. Identify the functions of manageMent written in clues above.
2. Elaborate on the 3 clues.

Answer 1

1. Planning and Control

Planning means looking ahead and chalking out future courses of action to be followed. It is a preparatory step. It is a systematic activity which determines when, how and who is going to perform a specific job. Planning is a detailed programme regarding future courses of action.

Controlling is an important function of management which all the managers are required to perform. In order to contribute towards achievement of organisational objectives, a manager is required to exercise effective control over the activities of his subordinates.

2.Planning and controlling are both backward looking as well as forward looking:Controlling is backward looking because like a postmortem of past activities the manager looks back to previous year’s performance to find out its deviation from standard planning is also backward looking because planning is guided by past experiences and feedback report of controlling function.

Planning is forward looking because plans are prepared for future. It involves looking in advance and making policy for maximum utilisation of resources in future.

Controlling is also forward looking because controlling does not end only by comparing past performance with standard.