The execution and management of plans, as distinct from plan formulation, make the severest demands on scarce managerial resources, particularly in the developing countries. The wide discrepancy between objectives and achievements at the end of the plan period (the distinction is limited to the industrial programmes) has been due largely to failures in sectoral coordination, effective direction of the plan and adequate supply of trained personnel. In some instances, planned targets may have over-estimated existing capacities, but, allowing for this factor, the skill in assembling resources and ensuring that the execution of the various components of a plan are correctly phased has a great deal to do with the final result.