Global Journal of Management and Business Research, A: Administration and Management, Volume 23 Issue 1

Another critical consideration is the title given to this section. It has been decided to begin the part of the text dealing with planning by stating that "planning does not mean forecasting or being certain of 'producing income'". Many readers will have smiled when reading these words. In reality, however, the choice has been motivated by extensive experience in the field that shows how, in many companies, there is a misconception of the concept of planning and management control. First of all, it is essential to emphasise that planning does not merely forecast data about the future. As everyone knows, forecasting implies a passive relationship with the external environment, while planning implies proactivity concerning what surrounds the planner. Being proactive means wanting to impact the environment, refusing to be passive about what happens outside the company. Those who set themselves the objective of implementing an integrated analysis/programming /control system cannot assume that they will be subjected to what is imposed by the market/external environment and, consequently, must identify actions to intervene directly in the surrounding reality. Foresight prevents planning as it merely imagines what external agents want to impose on the company. Such behaviour does not fit in with the logic of control since being subjected to the actions of others is contrary to the very concept of control. Planning, therefore, means identifying objectives from the point of view of someone aware that he can influence what happens in the market. This does not imply a 'delirium of omnipotence' but, much more simply, it means the will to act from a perspective that rejects the logic of mere adaptation to actions dictated by others and permeates every act with a desire to change what exists. Planning, therefore, means not accepting what others have decided but, on the contrary, acting in such a way as to impose what one wants others to "undergo" or, at least, it identifies a willingness to interact with third parties and markets that rejects the preconceived idea that management action is irrelevant to what happens outside the company. Counting on such an information structure does not give the certainty of producing income and financial balance, but, as already pointed out, the lack of information undoubtedly creates the basis for making it difficult or even impossible to achieve such results. 4) Analysis of the Final Data of the Financial Year being Planned and Comparison with the Planned Data - Final Check of the Values Achieved in the Analysed Period. Last Step of an Integrated Information System As already pointed out, while not identifying a verification or inspection system, the control process is characterised by the necessary presence of a phase in which a comparison is made between what was intended to be achieved and what has actually been completed. The concept of control understood as verification is inherent in the very notion of an integrated analysis/programming system. If, on the one hand, this is indisputable, on the other, it is equally valid that this phase does not aim to "criminalise" the work of company management but, on the contrary, aims to provide functional management information to operational managers. The search for any discrepancies between set objectives and actual values, although present in any control system, does not aim to find "faults" or "responsibilities" but should help management improve business performance. In the context of management control, therefore, a "verification" function is carried out only insofar as this provides essential information so that management can be carried out as efficiently and effectively as possible. The monitoring of the actual achievement of the planned objectives is, therefore, a necessary step to ensure that the management's action allows obtaining satisfactory performance compared to the targets set. Identifying the reasons why a specific objective has not been achieved or identifying operating procedures to further improve the use of management resources and optimise sales revenues represent the ultimate goals of the phase in which the variations between planned data and values achieved are achieved analysed. The monitoring of the results achieved and the consequent comparison with the planned values must be carried out by implementing a twofold analysis: The Implementation of an Integrated Information System in the Company: From Option to Obligation for Efficient and Effective Management 14 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXIII Issue I Version I Year 2023 ( ) A © 2023 Global Journals A final consideration, again concerning the title given to this paragraph, discusses the possibility that, in itself, an information system produces excellent management results. This represents a distorted idea of the concept of information. Making decisions based on complete, correct and fully comprehensive data does not, of course, imply obtaining satisfactory economic/financial results. Again, many readers will have smiled when reading the title of this paragraph. Experience shows, however, that the opinion that implementing an integrated analysis/programming /control system necessarily implies the achievement of significant economic objectives is quite widespread. There is no need to detail how such an opinion has its roots in a mistaken belief that improperly links the concept of information to the idea of "solving business problems". Making decisions based on correct and comprehensive data does not guarantee the success of the company. However, the opposite is true. It isn't easy to imagine satisfactory economic results without an integrated analysis/programming/control system.