The policy planning in organizations is one of the four types of planning in the world. It is the most traditional and focuses on a series of procedures and / or regulations that must be strictly followed when planning an objective. It is part of the administrative process that takes place within an organization.
The other three elements of the process depend on this planning: organization, direction and control. That is why it is considered the most important; There is a very close link between control and planning. In normative planning, the entire planning process is based on a diagnosis conceived within previously agreed parameters.
It is also known as prospective planning and follows the following pattern: diagnosis, design, execution and evaluation. It is planned based on the "should be" instead of the "is" that you are trying to improve. This planning bases your objectives taking into account measurable and exact data.
For this reason, it requires precise information to help make decisions about specific purposes. It was defined by Professor John Friedmann as a system that is primarily concerned with the ends of action. The four types of planning that exist are normative, strategic, situational and tactical-operational.
Elements
The elements of normative planning are part of the leadership dimensions, which are vision, mission and objectives:
View
It is the way an organization sees itself and how it describes its environment, its customers / users and its plans. Project how you would like to see the world or a particular sector in a few years, according to your goals.
Likewise, it establishes a positive image of its clients' lives based on its own contributions as an organization to achieve this. At the same time, imagine and describe the type of organization you hope to become; from vision comes mission.
Mission
It is the general goal that an organization wants to achieve in a certain period of time. It should not be confused with the purpose, which is the reason for your work. It's more about the things the organization does and how it does them. Try to be a link between the desirable and the possible.
Generally, a well-defined mission establishes what an organization (company or institution) does and what it does not do. This allows management and collaborators to have a permanent focus and guide to guide their work.
It must include the following elements: temporality (present and future) and a description of the sector / business in which it operates. It also requires defining your target audience and the parameters that define your concept of success.
goals
The business objectives the achievements or results that the organization wants to achieve in the short, medium and long term. This is a planning item that needs to be measured for confirmation. The objectives are statements that are formulated in a positive way and for which a specific term is established.
They must be fixed in correspondence with the vision. Their importance lies in the fact that they guide the actions of all members of the organization in the same direction.
They are a guide to draw strategies, assign resources and perform tasks, in addition to allowing the evaluation of results for control purposes. The objectives must meet some basic characteristics to facilitate their achievement. Must be:
Measurable
That is, they can be measurable or quantifiable to be able to evaluate them in a fixed period of time.
Clear
In this way its scope will not be confused or misinterpreted. Therefore, the planner must define them clearly, precisely and understandable by all members of the organization.
Realistic
To make them achievable, the objectives must be framed within the possibilities of the organization, taking into account its capacity and resources (human, technical, financial, etc.).
Challengers
Organizations need to constantly test themselves, that's why they need to plan based on objectives that mean challenges and challenges.
Coherent
They must be aligned and in perfect harmony with the vision, mission, values, organizational culture and policy of the company or institution.
Advantage
- Normative planning helps reduce uncertainty in decision-making because it operates under pre-established and proven parameters. It obeys a formal, articulated and rigorous planning scheme.
- It obliges to coordinate decisions, thus preventing administrators from acting improvised and even arbitrarily.
- Determines concrete actions to achieve the objectives and goals of both the management levels and others in the organizational structure.
- Allows the design of a suitable work environment that contributes to improving performance and, consequently, raising productivity.
- Helps provide better service to customers.
- It is an adequate way of ordering the rational use of all existing or potential resources.
- Through regulatory planning, the organization seeks to achieve its general and particular objectives.
- Your projects, programs and plans are designed based on what is desirable.
- It constitutes a way of facing future problems, challenges or changes within the organization by making a diagnosis of the current reality.
- Clearly state and highlight the organization's objectives for the benefit of customers or users. This forces the organization as a whole to act in accordance with the objectives and contributes to making its work more transparent.
Disadvantages
- It is a very rigid planning system, which follows a sequential and direct line towards the goal set.
- Usually does not recognize the influence of other external factors in the administrative process. It does not establish or imagine alternative scenarios to the preconceived ones, nor does it consider obstacles and other difficulties that may hinder the achievement of the objectives.
- It is the traditional way of planning organizations.
- At all times the planner has the plan under his control, monopolizing it in a way that can become counterproductive.
- Use only normative and non-strategic procedures.
- Bases all planning on the certainty and infallibility of the diagnosis.
- It concentrates only on problems of a technical nature and their formulation from a logical point of view.
References
- Are Anglo-American-Style Normative Planning Theories Applicable in South Asian Cities? Retrieved June 5, 2018 from utoledo.edu
- Normative Planning Methodology. Consulted of academia.edu
- Elements of Normative Planning. Consulted of clubensayos.com
- Administration and normative, strategic and operational planning (PDF). Consulted of sata.ruv.itesm.mx
- Normative and strategic planning. Consulted of emaze.com
- Planning. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
- Normative planning. Consulted of es.slideshare.net