Welcome to PlanningSkills.COM

This website focuses on a wide variety of topics related to organization and individual planning situations. The primary focus is business planning.

Planning is an anticipatory decision making process that involves situation analysis, forecasting outcomes and events, evaluating alternative courses of action, anticipating consequences and considering implementation issues and contingencies. Planning often begins with asking one or more questions, for example: What if ...? Could we ...? Do we ...? Is it possible...? How should we respond ...? How can we ...? Is it feasible to ...?

In general, planning is a proactive process that is intended to help individuals, groups and organizations achieve performance objectives.

Featured Glossary Term

Prof. H. Igor Ansoff proposed four strategies for growing in existing and new markets using existing and new products. Ansoff's matrix suggests that if the focus in on existing products and markets, then market penetration and concentrated growth strategies are most appropriate. If new markets are targeted for existing products, then a market development framework is being pursued. If new products are developed for existing markets, then managers are pursuing a product development strategy. Finally, managers are trying to expand and diversify their firm's product mix through internal development when new products are developed for new markets.

Featured Planning Tip

Never permit the enemy to acquire an unexpected advantage. Monitor competitors and stay vigilant.

During planning processes it is often necessary to maintain secrecy to gain surprise. In many societies, the proverbial wisdom is that "the walls have ears, the doors have eyes". The Japanese proverb is "Kabe ni mimi ari, shoji ni me ari" meaning one may not be fully aware of how closely one is being monitored by others. Planners should take precautions to insure that only those who should know about the planning process and situation and the plans, do know.

"Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity; They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straight forwardness; Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports; Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of warfare; If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told." - Sun Tzu quotes