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(E) Standing Plans or Repeated Use Plans
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| (E) Standing Plans or Repeated Use Plans whereas single-use plans are developed for nonrecurring situations, a standing plan is used for activities that recur regularly over a period of time, hence, standing plans provide ongoing guidance for performing recurring activities. Simply put, standing plans are used again and again and are repetitive in nature. These plans are formulated by the managers at different levels, meant for repeated use as and when the situation demands. There are three (3) main types of standing plans as noted by Wheelon and Hunger (1995), these are i) Policy, ii) Procedure, and iii) Rule i) Policy: is a general guide that specifies the broad parameters within which organization members are expected to operate in pursuit of organizational goals. Specifically, a policy can be defined as - a standing guide making administrative decisions on a given subject, - an organisation’s point of view - an established way of doing business and directing actions in specified areas of management, - an internal administrative law governing executive actions within the organization, etc. Policies do not normally dictate exactly what actions should betaken, rather they provide general boundaries for action (Bartol and Martin, 1998). Furthermore, as a general guide for action, a policy is the most general form of standing plan. A policy specifies an organisation’s general response to a designated problem or situation. Generally, policy leaves some room for discretion. When a policy is rigid, it becomes a rule. In addition, policy according to Mullins (1996) is defined as a guideline for organizational action and the implementation of goals and objectives. He noted that policy is translated into rules, 112 plans, and procedures that are related to all activities and to all levels of the organization. If clearly stated, policy can help re-enforce the main functions of the organization, make for consistency and reduce dependency on the actions of managers. Moreover, policy clarifies the roles and responsibility of manager and other members of staff and provides guidelines for managerial behavior, thus, policy as a statement indicating the general pattern of action to be followed to secure the implementation and achievement of organizational objectives. ii) Procedure: A procedure is a prescribed series of related steps to betaken under certain recurring circumstance. Well-established and formalized procedures are often called Download 3.37 Mb. Share with your friends:
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