THE IMPACT OF PLANNING IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE. A CASE STUDY OF UNILEVER PLC
ABSTRACT
The impact of planning in organizational performance concerned with identifying whether planning is an effective tool for achieving organizational performance; to know some managers don’t plan in-spite of the advantages of planning, to investigate the relevance of planning in an organization. Questionnaire and personal interview was used in this research work, the researcher made use of primary and secondary data. The study utilized sample percentage analysis to determine the level of favorable or good responds with an option, 120% is the accepted percentage point below 120% was accepted percentage point. The success and failure of any organization can be determined by the extent which it engages in planning that is effective planning. Top management must participate fully in formulating the corporate/strategic and long range plans of the organization and should not delegate to the subordinate. The research work was divided into five chapters, chapter one deals with the introduction, two deals with the theoretical framework and literature review, three deals with research methodology, four data presentation and analysis, five summary, conclusion and recommendation.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY:
Unilever Nigeria PLC (formerly known as lever brother Nigeria PLC) is the longest surviving manufacturing outfit in Nigeria. The company was incorporated as a private company in 1923 to manufacture soap based on local palm oil. Over the years the company has diversified and expanded its operations to production and marketing and personal products including toothpaste, body creams and hair care products.
Through selective acquisition the company has strengthened its foothold in foods and personal products though its merger with Lipton Nigeria limited in 1988 and latterly in the 1990’s through merger with unilever Nigeria limited. In order to ensure effective of the four manufacturing plants for plants for its operation from the original six. Apapa the premier and largest site, product soaps such as sunlight, dreeze life buoy and astral and some personal products mainly toothpaste and Vaseline range. Here the company makes such popular brands as Omo, Rim and Ox powder.
The third and newest of the plants commissioned in 1983 in the ultramodern food factory in agbara, where the company produces Royco, Blueband, plants, treetop, Oroyo among others.
The forth –the Oregun site whose popular personal products brand like pears satin, lotus etc are produced with the intention to consolidate all the personal product production including toothpaste, ponds and Vaseline range. The company has staff strength of about 2500 employees in four manufacturing plants various distribution points throughout the country.
The company’s board of directors is responsible for its strategic planning (long range planning). They recognized the fact that there is no one way to business planning and as such they create comprehensive and on-going management process aimed at formulating and implementing effective strategies. The organization uses planning as an effective tool by considering the organizational objectives and the organization as a tool unit, they try to depend on which their organization should do to be successful in three years from their present situation.
The impact of planning in organizational performance has enabled the company to determine it’s objectives as a target towards which the open management system is directed. After which they create a mission this helps management strategy to be focused.
The impacts of planning help the company to create market segment. Thus helps them to identify their target consumers, and how best to satisfy them; planning in the company also helps to determine the input required to facilitate production ensuring the regularity of input supplies in order to constantly meet up consumer demands. Lastly, they create a projection developing a vision for the organization that is to determine where the organization will be in time to come.
For management to ensure the successful implementation of plan, that is stated objectives development by the organization through planning, they create guideline which helps different people to handle the same problems in the organization to make decisions that achieve objectives more quickly, easily and consistently.
The following guideline was expressed in the company.
- Objectives
- Policies
- Procedures
- Standards
- Rules
When strategies have been formulated through planning by the company board, it passes these strategies to the district heads or departmental heads in the form of guidelines for implementation. They ensure that which has been formulated is successfully implemented, so that objective stated is achieved. The departmental head are responsible for tactical planning (short-rang) usually one year or less. They are more concerned on the allocation of resources to current operations of various parts of the organization. They allocation resources to different sections (units in the department ensuring that resources are properly used as specified) tactical plans are usually developed by the company’s units-heads such as production managers and finance managers with the helps of planning the work is being carried out properly.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
This project is carried out in order to examine the effect of planning on organization and achievement of stated objectives of the organization.
Despite the positive impact of planning on organizations and individual performances the effectiveness and efficiency of planning organizations still faces some problems in planning which makes it difficult for organization to achieve their stated goals.
Managers are faced with the problem of making decision and selective from among alternative courses of action for the future, setting out sequences to follow establishing standards against which to compare or measure performance of activities of subordinates and taking corrective actions where necessary in the course of their day to day activities. Lack of conceptual skill and experience for performance render some managers helpless. Also some managers lack commitment and discipline to implement planning, not having accurate information and foresight also present problem to some managers.
Lack of use of planning by managers, reduces the productivity of these organization. Most managers are not aware of the importance of planning and as such do not plan. Also lack of funding experienced by most organizations reduces or do not allow managers to engage in planning.
With this, the research intends to reveal the effectiveness of planning as a tool of achieving organizational objectives and possibly to reveal why some managers do not plan.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION:
- How long have you work for unilever Plc Aba?
- Does an organization achieve its performance based on the impact of planning?
- Can an organization function effectively and efficiently without planning?
- Can impact of planning lend to organizational performance?
1.4 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS:
The following hypothesis is put forth in order to ascertain the research work “the impact of planning on organizational performance”.
Hypothesis I: Ho: Organizations still face problems in achieving organizational performance despite confirmed effectiveness and efficiency of planning.
H1: Organizations’ no longer face problems in achieving organizational performance, despite confirmed effectiveness and efficiency of planning.
Hypothesis II: Ho: Decision making does not constituted the major problems that prevents managers from planning.
H1: Decision making constitutes the major problem that prevents managers from planning.
Hypothesis III: Ho: Organizational performance is independent of planning.
H1: Organizational performance is dependent on planning.
Hypothesis IV: Ho: achieving organizational objectives is independent of planning.
H1: Achieving organization objectives is independent on planning.
1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:
This research is aimed at identifying whether planning is an effective tool for achieving organizational performance. However to be more specific in the objectives include:
- To determine the effectiveness of planning on organizational performance.
- To know why some managers don’t plan in spite of the advantage of planning.
- To find out how planning is used to achieve organizational performance.
- To investigate the relevance of planning in organizations.
