R C Sekhar The analysis of corporate planning styles in this paper follows the framework of J Friedman, a pioneer in cross-national or cross-cultural studies in corporate pluming styles. The paper draws a correlation between the expressions 'normative planning' and 'functional planning' used by Friedman and economic planners, on the hand, and 'strategic planning styles' and 'operational planning styles' used in managerial literature, on the other.