Planning and controlling are inseparable. Planning is the primary function of every organization. It is the thinking process, which means looking ahead or making plans that how the desired goal is achieved in future. Thus it is called a forward-looking function. On the other hand, controlling is a systematic function which measures the actual performance against the planned performance. It compares and analyses the whole process of an organization and takes correcting actions.
Thus, it is a backward-looking function. But the statement “Planning is looking ahead and controlling is looking back” is only partially correct because it should be understood that planning is guided by past experiences and the corrective action initiated by control function which aims to improve future performance. Thus, planning and controlling are both backward-looking as well as forward-looking functions.
