Formal planning department

Definition (1):

As per the traditional approach, planning is done completely by top-level managers who sometimes are helped by a formal planning department, a team of planning specialists whose only responsibility is to help write the different organizational plans.

Definition (2):

Traditionally, a formal planning department was established before making organizational plans. It is nothing but a group of planners specialized in planning who assist managers in writing organizational plans. Planning is an activity of management, so it should never be considered as the sole responsibility of the appointed planners. Organizational members should also be involved in this planning and it is very important.

Organizations employ different approaches for planning. Traditional planning originated from top-level management and developed down to lower-level management. Sometimes, top management was helped by a formal planning department with the only purpose to help in composing organizational plans. The trouble was that too many of these vast documents just ended up on the shelves and were never implemented. Another problem was that this department put emphasis on the significance of achieving strategic goals and so the lower-level employees performing there took advantage of shortcuts.