How do mission, vision and values help in developing good plan for an organization? Explain planning premises.

The Role of Mission, Vision, and Values in Planning

Mission defines the organization’s current purpose – what it does and why it exists. It’s a statement of the organization’s core business. For example, the mission of Tata Steel is “to be the world’s steel industry leader through sustainable development.” This guides all planning activities towards steel production and related areas.

Vision, on the other hand, is a future-oriented statement describing the desired state of the organization. It’s aspirational and provides a long-term direction. Microsoft’s vision, “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more,” shapes its investment in new technologies and markets.

Values are the deeply held beliefs that guide the organization’s behavior and decision-making. They define the organizational culture. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) emphasizes values like integrity, respect, and sustainability, influencing its product development, marketing, and supply chain practices.

These three elements work synergistically. The mission provides context, the vision provides direction, and the values provide boundaries. When planning, these elements ensure that strategies are aligned with the organization’s core purpose, long-term goals, and ethical standards. Without them, planning can become fragmented and lack coherence.

Planning Premises: The Foundation of Plans

Planning premises are the assumptions about the future that are made while formulating plans. They are the anticipated environmental factors that will affect the implementation of the plan. These premises can be internal or external, controllable or uncontrollable. They are crucial because plans are based on predictions about what will happen, and these predictions are rarely certain.

Planning premises can be categorized as follows:

• Internal Premises: These relate to factors within the organization’s control, such as production capacity, financial resources, employee skills, and technological capabilities. For example, a plan to launch a new product assumes sufficient production capacity exists.
• External Premises: These relate to factors outside the organization’s control, such as economic conditions, government regulations, technological advancements, competitor actions, and social trends. A plan to expand into a new market assumes a stable political environment and favorable trade policies.
• Controllable Premises: These are assumptions about factors the organization can influence. For example, a marketing plan might assume a certain level of advertising expenditure will generate a specific increase in sales.
• Uncontrollable Premises: These are assumptions about factors the organization cannot influence, such as changes in interest rates or natural disasters. A construction project might need to account for the possibility of monsoon delays.

Types of Planning Premises

Type of Premise	Description	Example
Economic	Assumptions about economic growth, inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates.	A plan to invest in a new factory assumes continued economic growth and stable interest rates.
Technological	Assumptions about technological advancements and their impact on the industry.	A plan to develop a new software product assumes the availability of skilled programmers and the latest development tools.
Political	Assumptions about government policies, regulations, and political stability.	A plan to export goods to a foreign country assumes favorable trade agreements and a stable political climate.
Social	Assumptions about changing social trends, consumer preferences, and demographic shifts.	A plan to launch a new food product assumes growing consumer demand for healthy and organic options.

It’s important to regularly review and update planning premises as new information becomes available. Failure to do so can lead to plans that are based on inaccurate assumptions and are therefore likely to fail. Scenario planning, where multiple possible futures are considered, is a useful technique for identifying and managing uncertainty related to planning premises.