Why do plans fail in developing countries

This is due to our poor capacity to make the best use of physical, human and fiscal resources. In a least developed country like Nepal, economic planning is deployed as a tool for eliminating poverty, reducing inequality and lowering unemployment. But because of the misplaced orientation of the planning process and attendant constraints like poor quality data, institutional weaknesses, cumbersome bureaucratic procedures, and resistance to innovation and change, planning policies are found contributing unwittingly to the perpetuation of underdevelopment.

The philosophy of economic planning can be broadly classified into indicative planning and command and control-based centralised planning. Indicative planning sets the targeted rate of growth for the economy as a whole for a specific time period. In this type of planning, the role of the private sector and civil society is important. The indicative type, free market-based planning is based on the premise that the invisible foot would provide a more powerful kick towards economic development and growth than the visible hand of the central command-based planning.

As is known, command and control type centralised planning functions within the hierarchical framework of the state machinery. But Nepal more or less follows the mixed type of planning process, where the role of the state, private and civil sectors has been recognised for development.

However, it is envisaged that the development planning process should start with a long-term vision and perspective. Then comes the periodic planning process followed by annual planning activity. The total activities of the government should reflect in the plan document. As mentioned above, Nepal has already implemented more than a dozen periodic development plans, but most of them could not achieve their intended goals and targets.

The reason why plans for development fail in Nepal has been typically diagnosed by Swedish economist Gunar Myrdal, who earned worldwide reputation for his famous Nobel Prize winning work The Asian Drama. With Building Communities, not only is a full array of alternate business and community development strategies presented, but all of the key success factors for each strategy are also weighted and presented.

Specific tools are then available to ensure that effective organizations are in place to implement the strategies. Indeed, Building Communities is a new paradigm for business and community development planning. Considering there are so many reasons why plans can fail, one might wonder why ever plan at all.

For one, mapping out a plan before embarking onto its implementation has plenty of benefits. It enables better organization. It allows for a better understanding of objectives and their alignment with broader organizational goals, but it also helps identify and take into account any impediments that exist in reaching those objectives.

Planning helps reduce, and even eliminate, uncertainty, improve efficiency of operations, and find smarter ways to complete project tasks and deliverables.

Studies have shown that organizations that have adopted project portfolio management PPM solutions , including effective project management tools to help manage projects and the portfolio, and also conduct ongoing reviews of these projects see an increased likelihood of portfolios that meet schedules, scope, quality, budget, time, and business benefits.

Well-defined project planning also provides a basis for monitoring and controlling work on the project, which is crucial to staying on top of schedules, milestones, costs, risks, and issues. Employing effective software measurement tools therefore becomes essential, not only for early forecasting and estimates, but for measuring compliance and identifying trends and deviations along the way.

Get started. Watch the short recording. Tips and tricks for getting started with Tempo Timesheets Watch the recording. A quick and easy introduction to Tempo Accounts Read the blog. Careers Working at Tempo Open Positions.

Unstoppable together: The Tempo Hackathon Read the blog. Why plans fail The same analogy can be applied to strategic initiatives and project plans. Here are some reasons why strategic initiatives and plans fail. Unrealistic goals or lack of focus and resources Strategic plans must be focused and include a manageable, clearly defined number of goals, objectives, and programs. Plans are overly complex We all know someone who is a plan over-engineering extraordinaire.

Financial estimates are significantly inaccurate Cost estimating: art or science?