Corporate planning in Indian Railways: a case study

Abstract

Corporate planning is brought into the planning considerations of major enterprises for many different reasons. In the case of the Indian Railways examined in this paper, a major reason for the institution of corporate planning was the concerns expressed by the World Bank for the planning and organizational system currently operating. The paper exammes the manner in which corporate planning was developed for the Indian Railways, and concentrates on both the theoretical concepts on which the system implemented was based and the necessary quantification which provided concrete objectives. The paper deals wtth the problems of planning and the relationship between planning and control systems within a complex organization. Furthermore, the value of the case study is clearly illustrated in the conclusions which the author draws from the experience and in the re-orientation which, if the author is correct, occurred due to the analysis undertaken during the implementation of their corporate planning system.

Corporate planning is brought into the planning considerations of major enterprises for many different reasons. In the case of the Indian Railways examined in this paper, a major reason for the institution of corporate planning was the concerns expressed by the World Bank for the planning and organizational system currently operating. The paper exammes the manner in which corporate planning was developed for the Indian Railways, and concentrates on both the theoretical concepts on which the system implemented was based and the necessary quantification which provided concrete objectives. The paper deals wtth the problems of planning and the relationship between planning and control systems within a complex organization. Furthermore, the value of the case study is clearly illustrated in the conclusions which the author draws from the experience and in the re-orientation which, if the author is correct, occurred due to the analysis undertaken during the implementation of their corporate planning system.