Micro-planning: the neglected interface

Abstract

Social and economic systems have divergent subsystems which wilt work together effectively only when they are linked by an interface that ensures compatibility between them. Often, the individual subsystem by itself may be superb in its design, structure, and contents; and yet the total system may fail to work optimally because the interaction between, or the synchronisation of, the constituent parts has been neglected. Neglect of the interface can be costly in terms of the performance of the total system. In the national economic system, the two important subsystems that must work together in harmony for optimal performance are the subsystem of the government and the subsystem of the primary decisionmaking units. Failure of planning to yield results may be largely traced to the interface between these two subsystems. The direction of reform in this respect needs to be threefold: the basic urge among private firms or farms to seek profit needs to be harnessed in the service of national planning; micro-planning needs to generate a competitive environment in which private firms have to discipline themselves for the market; and thirdly, where such competition cannot be sustained, as where the public sector operates, operational goals have to be defined consistent with the national plan, and criteria evolved for performance evaluation.