Planning has been defined in various ways by different authors.
1. Planning is the process of drawing from the past to decide in the present what to do in the future. All decided now what we are going to do later, when and how we are going to do it, and who will do it. It involves a matching of means and end , or input and output.
2. Planning is a pervasive human activity by which we seek to exercise some degree of control over the future. All planning 6 to arrive at a present decision concerning future action the more complex the activity and the more uncertain the future, the greater the need for formal, systematic planning producers .
3. Planning is not a process of making tomorrows decision today, but rather a process directed towards making this decision with tomorrow in mind, and a means of preparing for future decision so that they they made rapidly, economical, and with as little disruption to the business as possible .
4. Planning involves selecting enterprise objectives and department goals and then finding ways to achieving them. Plans depend upon the existence of alternatives and then decision have to be paid regarding what to do, how to do it and by whom it is to be done. A plan is a predetermined calls for action which helps to provide purpose and direction for members of an enterprise.
5. Planning is basically selected the best course of action from the alternatives available.
6. Planning is the continuous process of making present entrepreneurial decisions systematically and with the best possible knowledge of the future organising systematically the efforts needed to carry out these decisions, and measuring the results of this decision against expectations through organised, systematic feedback.
7. Planning is the linking of two or more executive decisions with the aim of maximizing their joint effectiveness.
8. Planning is the process of pre determining the probable sequence of things to come and deciding on a course of action to minimise loss.
From all the definition above we can say that all planning 6 to arrive at a present decision concerning future actions. The more complex of the activity and the more uncertain the future, the greater the need for formal, systematic planning procedures.
Planning requires that management makes a number of decision or interrelated, having to do with what to do to attain certain objectives or goals, how to do it, when to do it and who is it to do it. The difference between successful companies and the unsuccessful ones or between the living firms and the dead ones could be the ability of the successful and living firms to organise the need for and importance of planning in business. any success that can be attributed to management in increasing the profitability of making operations must depend to a large extent upon the nature of its marketing planning. If management must reduce risk then planning becomes inevitable .
