Abstract:There has been criticism of the lack of attention given by the academic community to overall planning theory. To develop an overall structure for management planning and control is the purpose of this study. Some writers classify plans according to their time span, for example, long, medium and short range, but we attempt to classify them in relation to management functions. Several conceptual and operational planning models are examined, and a structure similar to the consensus emerging from these is presented. Decisions and decision models are examined and integrated with the various levels of the management process and thus an overall framework is developed.