(a) Planning involves decision making: planning essentially involves choice from among various alternatives and activities. If there is only one possible goal or a possible course of action, there is no need for planning because there is no choice. The need for planning arises only when alternatives are available. In actual practice, planning pre-supposes the existence of alternatives. Planning, thus, involves thorough examination and evaluation of each alternative and choosing the most appropriate one.

(b) Planning is pervasive: Planning is required at all levels of the management as well as in all departments of the organisation. It is not an exclusive function of top management or of any particular department. But the scope of planning differs at different levels and among different departments. For example, the top management undertakes planning for tire organisation as a whole. Middle management does the departmental planning. At the lowest Ievel, day-to-day operational planning is done by the supervisors.