Planning premises are assumptions or anticipated environment in which plans are expected to operate. They are the base material upon which plans are drawn. Planning premises are vital to the success of planning as they supply pertinent facts and information relating to the future such as population trends, general economic conditions, production costs and prices, probable competitive behavior, capital and material availability, governmental control, and so on. Establishing planning premises is a critical element in the planning phase, which ensures that all managers in the organization are in sync with each other.

Planning premises can be classified as internal and external premises, controllable, semi-controllable, and uncontrollable premises, tangible and intangible premises. Internal premises include forecasts, policies, and programs of the organization, capital investment in plant and equipment, competence of management, skill of the labor force, other resources and abilities of the organization in the form of machines, money, and methods, and beliefs, behavior, and values of the owners and employees of the organization. External premises include factors such as population growth, technological changes, government policies, competition, and social and cultural changes. Tangible premises are those that can be quantitatively measured, while intangible premises are those that being qualitative in character cannot be so measured.

In summary, planning premises are assumptions or anticipated environment in which plans are expected to operate, and they are vital to the success of planning. They can be classified as internal and external premises, controllable, semi-controllable, and uncontrollable premises, tangible and intangible premises.