Academic planning in higher education is strongly influenced by business management theories and practices. The author questions the usefulness of this approach because the nature of higher education differs from the nature of a profit-making business. However, rational planning to achieve efficiency is relevant if efficiency is not confined to values that are measured in money or traded in a market. Academic planning must take into account all the benefits whether or not they are readily quantifiable, and must consider all the costs whether or not they are quantifiable. An analogy between higher education institutions and the family is drawn to illustrate this. The point is also made that more knowledge is needed about the relation between the resources and technologies employed and the true outcomes in human terms to make academic planning possible. Several examples of the decision-making process in long-range planning are given to illustrate the kinds of questions that must be answered in the planning activity. The main task of planning is to implement a coherent philosophy of higher education that sets the general costs and results and to communicate the plan to the academic community through a consistent pattern of decisions. (JMF)