CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The development of corporate planning is a post world war II phenomenon. Before the period of the world war II, almost all business enterprises were carrying on their business affairs without stating any formal objectives or formal long range business plans. Usually business planning was confined to the lower organizational levels, mainly the functional or the departmental levels and they had only short-term plans which focused mainly on manufacturing product planning, materials ordering and receiving and hiring of labour. Most companies used to have annual budgets or yearly financial plans to ensure their liquidity Imaga (2000:1).
Since that period of world war II, higher level that is at the care body of the company level long-range, usually of 3 to 7 years period planning has assumed ever increasing importance.
The development of business planning been a revolutionary movement or as technological revolution or even the revolution in life-styles due to Income demonstration effects from time to time. According to Hberts, (1950), comprehensive business planning now
covers long-range in the form of strategic planning involving the entire fabric of the organization and is the concern of the top-most management from where it descends to all. The scope of corporate planning covers not only the whole organization but every functional aspects of the organization. It takes into account the full environments in which the business operates and is a systematic assessment of a most comprehensive nature, leading to the realistic mapping out of long term objectives, strategies and operational plans Akpala (1990).
In corporate planning, top management is concerned with the future direction of the business as a whole, such decisions taken are long-term in nature and are bound to have far reaching implications on employment, the financing of the business and the types of products manufactured.
Thus, corporate planning involves major strategic decisions. It is against this background that this study is set to examine corporate planning with a view to determining its benefits and identifying its problems in Dangote Group of Company Nigeria Limited.