Planning

Previous Years' CBSE Board Questions

4.1 Planning: Concept, Importance and Limitations

MCQ

1 "The purpose of planning is to meet future events effectively to the best advantage of an organisation". This statement highlights which of the following features of planning?

1. Planning focuses on achieving objectives
2. Planning involves decision-making
3. Planning is the primary function of management
4. Planning is futuristic (2023)

2 provides the standards against which actual performance is measured.

1. Controlling (b) Planning
2. Directing (d) Staffing (Term-I, 2021-22) R

1. Planning ensures that the goals are clearly stated, so that they act as a guide for deciding what action should be taken and in which direction. If goals are well-defined, employees are aware of what the organisation has to do to achieve those goals.

(d) Planning establishes standards for controlling

(Term-I, 2021-22)

The above para highlights the following point of importance of planning:

1. Planning promotes innovating ideas.
2. Planning establishes standards for controlling.
3. Planning provides direction.
4. Planning is pervasive. (Term-I, 2021-22)
5. The owner of 'Sweet Moments' wedding hall spent a great deal of time, money and effort in renovation expecting a bumper wedding season in 2020 but due to the pandemic, weddings became intimate home affairs and not many bookings happened.

The limitation of planning highlighted in the above case is:

1. It reduces creativity
2. It may not work in a dynamic environment
3. It leads to rigidity
4. It is time consuming. (Term-I, 2021-22)

5, Prem Lal, the Managing Director of Awasthi Ltd., retired after 33 years of service. The responsibility was given to Raj. Raj realised that there was lot of rivalry, confusion and misunderstanding among the departmental heads. He detected inefficiencies, took corrective measures and developed a master plan for the organisation to follow. This served as a basis for coordinating the activities of all the departments,

led to clarity of thought and action and work got off

to a smooth start.

1. Planning reduces overlapping and wasteful activities.
2. Planning establishes standards for controlling.
3. Planning reduces the risks of uncertainty.
4. Planning promotes innovative ideas.

(Term-I, 2021-22) Ev

'Esya Cars' was founded by engineers who wanted

to prove that people don't need to compromise to

drive electric vehicles. They took it as a challenge and

new ideas took the shape of concrete plans. In July,

2021, they launched their first set of all electric cars,

proving to the world that electric vehicles can be

better, quicker and more fun to drive than gasoline cars.

The point of importance of planning discussed in the

above case is:

1. Planning reduces the risk of uncertainty
2. Planning reduces overlapping and wasteful activities
3. Planning promotes innovative ideas

'Surya Fashion Ltd', hired Suresh Malhotra, an ace

fashion designer to develop a new product line. He

charged 50 lakh for consultation. The company spent

another 15 crores in formulating the marketing

campaign for launching their new product line. Their

products were not liked by the consumers and the

company could generate a revenue of 15 lakh only

from this product line. Thus, the cost incurred is not

justifying the benefits derived from the plans.

Which limitation of planning; is reflected in the above

para?

1. Planning is time consuming
2. Planning involves huge costs
3. Planning leads to rigidity
4. Planning reduces creativity (Term-I, 2021-22) [60]
5. Which of the following statements correctly explains the limitation of planning 'Planning does not guarantee success'?
6. Planning is required at all levels of management and in all the departments of the organization.
7. Planning involves through examination and evaluation of available alternatives.
8. Relying on a previously tried and tested successful plan just because it had worked before and will work again.
9. By deciding in advance the tasks to be performed, planning shows the way to deal with changes and uncertain events. (Term-I, 2021-22)

1. 'Planning is an intellectual activity of thinking rather than doing'. Which feature of planning is highlighted in this statement?
2. Planning focuses on achieving objectives.
3. Planning is futuristic.
4. Planning involves decision making.

(Al 2019)

1. Planning is a mental exercise. (Term-I, 2021-22)
2. 'Uttam Ayurvedic Ltd.' is an established Indian company manufacturing organic consumer goods like toothpastes and shampoos. It has planned to increase its market share from 30% to 40% in the current financial year.

With the expanding market of organic products, other companies in the consumer goods industry have also launched these products with organic components. The competition in the market has increased and it was found that the sales of Uttam Ayurvedic Ltd. came down and its market share was reduced to 23%.

Identify the limitation of planning highlighted in the above case :

1. Planning may not work in dynamic environment
2. Planning is time consuming
3. Planning involves huge costs
4. Planning reduces overlapping and wasteful activities. (Term-I, 2021-22) [An]

VSA (1 mark)

Varsha Jain after completing her fashion designing course form Indian Institute of Fashion Technology planned to enter into designer clothing venture. She had to address issues like her target customers, channel of distribution to be used, pricing policy etc. Identify the type of plan that Varsha Jain needs to develop to provide direction and scope to her organisation in the long run. (Delhi 2019)

1. All business firms would like to increase their sales and earn profits to be successful. All managers dream of these. To turn their dreams into reality, managers need to work hard in thinking about the future, in making business predictions and achieving targets. The above lines describe one of the functions of management. Identify and define this function.

(Al 2019)

1. Define 'Planning premises'. (Delhi 2015) R
2. Define 'Planning'. (Delhi 2015, Al 2015 C)
3. 'Dreams can be turned into reality only when a manager thinks in advance, what to do and how to do it? Name the function of management indicated by the statement. (Delhi 2014 C)
4. 'Deciding in advance what to do and how to do is one of the basic management functions'. Give the meaning of this function. (AI 2014 C)

SAI (3 marks)

1. Explain any three points of importance of 'Planning'.
2. Does planning guarantee success? Explain.

(Foreign 2019)

SAII (4 marks)

Mega Ltd. holds an Annual Management Programme

every year in the month of March in which the top

managerial personnel formulate plans for the next

year by analysing and predicting the future to meet

future events effectively.

As they are responsible for providing direction to

the organisation, facts are thoroughly checked using

scientific calculations.

Detailed plans are prepared after discussion with

professional experts. Preliminary investigations

are also undertaken to find out the viability of the

plan. Since it is an intellectual activity requiring

intelligent imagination and sound judgement so it is

mainly done by the top management. Usually rest of

the members just implement the plans. Middle level

managers are neither allowed to deviate from the

plans nor are they permitted to act on their own. The

top management ensures that the expenses incurred

in formulating the plans justify the benefits derived

from them.

State any two limitations and any two features of

planning discussed above. (Delhi 2019) Ev

In 2015, Naveen left his luxurious life in Mumbai,

where he worked as a manager for Blue Birds Ltd.

He shifted to Begampur, Chhattisgarh to fulfil his

grandmother's dream of converting their 25-acre

ancestral land into a fertile farm. For this he set

out specific goals along with the activities to be

performed to achieve the goals.

Every activity was a challenge since he was clueless

about farming. He learnt every activity from filling

the land to sowing the seeds. To acid farmers he

launched his own company 'Innovative Agriculture

Solutions Pvt. Ltd.'

It was difficult initially as no one trusted an urban

youth telling farmers about farming. But when

everything was discussed in detail the farmers

started taking interest. He wanted to ensure that the

future events meet effectively the best interests of

the company. Through sales forecasting, he prepared

an annual plan for production and sales.

State the type of plan that does not allow any flexibility. (Delhi 2014 C)

He also found that the farmers grew only paddy,

which was an activity of 3 - 4 months and the