Strategic planning and performance: Extending the debate

This article extends the debate regarding the relationship between strategic planning and performance. It addresses criticism of previous empirical studies that have largely investigated direct and bi-variate relationships, producing equivocal results. The current study investigates the mediating effects of four types of flexibility on the strategic planning and performance relationship. Flexibility is defined as the extent to which new and alternative decisions are generated and considered in strategic planning, allowing for positive organizational change and adaptation to environmental turbulence. Through investigating simultaneous equations in a structural equation model, we find that two types of flexibility mediate the relationship between strategic planning and financial performance, while the other two types mediate the relationship between strategic planning and non-financial performance. The results are new empirical insights that have not been previously reported.     

Linking the formal strategic planning process,planning flexibility,and innovativeness to firm performance

This study explores the link between financial performance and the formal strategic planning process, planning flexibility, and innovativeness of 448 firms in a multi-industry sample. The results suggest that firms' formal strategic planning processes and planning flexibility are positively associated, and each is positively related to innovativeness. In addition, innovativeness fully mediates the relationships between firm performance and the formal strategic planning process and planning flexibility.     

知识经济时代的战略规划:企业持续竞争优势的源泉

战略规划作为一个组织制定方向、明确目标、统一思想和谋求长远发展的一项系统活动,其重要性不言而喻。在阐述战略规划的定义、所包含内容及其重要性的基础上,系统地分析了其制定过程和在制定过程中的注意事项,在理论上为战略规划活动提出了一些方法和策略。     

The Interactive Effects of Strategic Marketing Planning and Performance: A Neural Network Analysis

Marketing managers practice in a consistently changing environment necessitating the need for the formalisation, implementation and evaluation of strategic marketing plans. Nevertheless, despite the advocated benefits of strategic marketing planning, a paucity of empirical evidence makes this notion speculative. This study examines the relationships between strategic marketing planning and performance. The interactive effects of strategic marketing planning and performance are stressed and examined. Findings suggest that the issue is not whether strategic marketing planning affects performance, but rather what marketing capabilities are required to enhance performance. This study extends the knowledge of strategic marketing planning and performance by focusing on the service industry, and provides controls for market-level influences by being restricted to the hotel sector.     

A Multi-Agent View of Strategic Planning Using Group Support Systems and Artificial Intelligence

The strategic planning process is dynamic and complex. Including a Group Support System (GSS) in the problem-solving process can improve the content quality of the strategic plan by allowing increased participation by more members of the organization. However, it can also add to the complexity of the problem by increasing the quantity of textual information that can result from group activity. Added complexity increases cognitive overload and frustrations of those participants negotiating the contents of the strategic plan. This article takes a multi-agent view of the strategic planning process. It considers group participants as multiple agents concerned with the content quality of the strategic plan. The facilitator agent is responsible for guiding groups in the strategic plan construction process as well as for solving process problems such as cognitive overload. We introduce an AI Concept Categorizer agent, a software tool that supports the facilitator in addressing the process problem of cognitive overload associated with convergent group activities by synthesizing group textual output into conceptual clusters. The implementation of this tool reduces frustrations which groups encounter in the process of classifying textual output and provides more time for discussion of the concepts themselves. Because of the large amount of convergent activity necessary for strategic planning, the addition of the AI Concept Categorizer to the strategic planning process should increase the quality of the strategic plan and the buy-in of the participants in the strategic planning process.     

Managerial Perceptions of Organizational Planning Benefits

Abstract

The last two decades have witnessed an increase in the number of business organizations which have recognised and adopted formal measures for undertaking strategic planning in industrialised countries. Notwithstanding the volume of pedagogical literature concerning strategic planning practice, there is limited evidence on issues relating to the planning process in developing nations. Although executives in transition developing economies may be stimulated to adopt a robust approach to planning their commercial activities, the justification for such an orientation has tended to rely upon intuitive thinking and conceptual contributions to knowledge. It is suggested that empirical tests or the anticipated benefits of planning might be more revealing and provide a grounded approach to assessing the utility of strategic planning for businesses operating in an emerging developing market. For this reason, the focus of this article is a discussion of the findings from an empirical study that investigated the perceived attitudinal and behavioural consequences of strategic planning, with the aim of determining the significance of such effects on planning among firms operating in Ghana's transition economy. A number of favourable outcomes are identified in managerial perceptions of planning. The implications     

Managing future uncertainty: Reevaluating the role of scenario planning

The business environment for many firms is changing rapidly and is becoming increasingly uncertain due to the disruption caused by new digital technologies, deregulation, new business models, and the threat of new competitive entrants. This dynamic competitive environment increases the level of uncertainty for senior executives and strategic planning teams who bear responsibility for the strategic development of the firm, particularly in terms of the future direction, scope, and the strategy required to deliver on corporate objectives. This in turn, places increased scrutiny on the strategic planning tools that are used to undertake a rational and comprehensive analysis of the competitive dynamics that inform strategy formulation. This article presents empirical findings and reflections on a scenario-planning project that sought to develop a long-term corporate level strategy. While scenario planning is an established constituent of the strategist’s toolbox, the increasing level of dynamism and uncertainty in many markets has meant that it has seen a resurgence. This article presents empirical findings on how the scenario-planning tool was selected and applied before reflecting on the individual and organizational outcomes of using scenario planning to develop an organizational strategy in uncertain market conditions.     

Strategic marketing planning for heritage tourism: a conceptual model and empirical findings from two emerging heritage regions

This paper examines the process of strategic marketing planning for heritage tourism, an inherently complex and fragmented system, requiring a coordinated approach among a range of stakeholders. A conceptual model, detailing key stakeholders and specific strategic functions, as well as a prescribed method of coordination, is presented. Two regions were investigated using a qualitative methodology, which examined five strategic documents and consisted of in-depth interviews with 11 key informants from the tourism industry. Key findings indicate that weak coordination, in terms of strategic marketing planning, has negative implications for heritage tourism marketing concerning four key strategic functions, strategic orientation, resource allocation, product service development and destination promotion. The paper emphasises the importance of strategic marketing planning for each function and considers the role of the public sector in terms of providing strategic direction. Furthermore, the paper highlights the potential difficulties of engaging in heritage tourism development in a non-traditional destination.     

Financial analysis and strategic management

Applications of financial analysis and planning models to strategic management are presented and discussed in this article. The authors first define the concept of strategy and the nature of strategic problems, then present a useful organizing paradigm of the strategic management field. Against that backdrop, financial analysis applications are discussed. Various financial analysis and planning models are reviewed, focusing on their usefulness to strategic management. Suggestions for future research directions are raised and considered.     

重庆内河航运物流发展的战略选择研究

重庆水运条件优越,水路货运周转量位于多种运输方式之首.大力发展内河航运物流在重庆经济社会发展中具有重要地位.文章提出,战略选择作为战略实施及战略控制与评价的前提和基础,重庆内河航运物流发展需要一个明确可行的战略规划,其中战略方案选择处于优先的位置.本文综合SWOT分析与GE矩阵分析方法,较好地解决了重庆内河航运物流发展的战略选择问题.研究表明,扭转型、择优重点发展的战略是现阶段较为适合重庆内河航运物流发展的战略.其基本战略要求是,把握外部机会,克服自身弱点,扭转不利状况;分配更多资源,加大投入,扩展市场地位;突出重点,改善服务质量与管理水平,增强内部协调与管理能力.     

Decision and information systems for strategic planning

Most modern organizations are concerned with how well their strategic planning systems guide the organization. The authors hold that effective strategic planning can be carried on only through the development and implementation of a strategic planning decision and information system (SPDIS). The concept suggests that strategic planning, the management information system, and the organizational structure and management processes are so interdependent that one subsystem cannot be effectively implemented without making appropriate changes in the others. The authors discuss the five critical elements of the SPDIS, recognizing the operational inter-dependence of the subsystems, focusing on support of the strategic decision-making aspect of the manager's job, and emphasizing the role of the manager.     

The logic of being illogical in strategic marketing planning

This article challenges the validity and usefulness of a conventional model of the sequence of stages in strategic marketing planning. Quite simply the conventional model ignores the organisational and human realities facing the planner. This paper proposes an “illogical” but iterative model of strategic marketing planning which is driven by the managerial understanding of the environment and knowledge of what tactical imperatives exist and constrain implementation. The advantages of explicitly recognising this “illogical” aspect of the planning process lie in: coping better with information demands made by executives in planning; allowing for psychological planning constraints and the obstacles created by the real nature of the manager's job; and in gaining the implementation of strategic marketing plans, with all that this implies for organisational and cultural change. The argument leads to an agenda of issues to be considered by the executive responsible for managing the strategic marketing planning process.     

‘Balanced Scorecard’ as an operation-level strategic planning tool for service innovation

This study proposes a model for implementing the balanced scorecard (BSC) as an operation-level strategic planning tool in a medical service department for service innovation. The study involved four major units in a district hospital: the internal medicine ward, surgery ward, gynecology ward, and pediatrics ward. The results indicated that the nursing department not only had its own unique goals and tasks, but also that it was obligated to a comprehensive service system in addition to its specific caring subjects. The study is the first to shed light on the role of department-level strategic planning tool for service innovation. The results also indicated that the operation-level should design its own BSC as a strategic planning for service innovation.     

Small-independent retailers vs. organized retailers: An empirical study in Indonesian economics of service industries

This paper explores the influence of strategic planning and functional-business strategy in helping small-independent retailers/traditional retailers to survive amidst the competition with organized retailers. Based on cross-sectional survey research, this study illustrates the influence of strategic planning and functional-business strategy to retailer–supplier relationship, consumer loyalty program, and retailer performance. In order to clarify the relationships among these constructs, a structural equation model (SEM) is employed to examine the model fit and the five hypotheses. The results show that strategic planning is critical for small independent retailers due to its influence on the retailer–supplier relationship and consumer loyalty program. Besides, consumer loyalty program is also influenced by functional-business strategy. The retailer–supplier relationship and consumer loyalty program exhibits a positive influence on the small-independent retailer performance. The research supports the existence of a more complex that the consumer loyalty program fully mediates the relationships between strategic planning and functional-business strategy on retail performance. Moreover, the retailer–supplier relationship fully mediates the relationship between strategic planning and small retailer performance. These findings constitute a new contribution to the literature on small retailer research streams through the development of cross category relationships such as strategy, buyer behavior, and structure categories. Besides, this study can enhance the strategic management as well as the performance of small-independent retailers to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.     

The effectiveness of strategic planning: competitiveness in the Brazilian supermarket sector

This paper considers the relative impact of management strategic planning practices and economic changes on company performance. The paper focuses on the Brazilian supermarket sector during the period 1988–1999. This was a period marked by significant changes in economic and competitive conditions. Using sales figures as indicators of company performance, ANOVA tests were applied. The results derived suggest that variables representing changes in economic conditions and strategic planning were both statistically significant when they were used to explain performance differences among Brazilian supermarket operations. Differences in company management practices were found to play a more important role than changes in the environment. However, the results clearly suggest that management by itself was unable to take advantage of the upward and downward movements in the economy to modify the relative competitive positions of companies operating within the market. This finding challenges the existing literature on strategic planning.     

The marketing and strategic planning interface

This article examines the potential contribution and implementational problems of developing marketing planning as a means to increase the marketing orientation of a company. It draws on the experience gained from a two year involvement in the design and implementation of a planning system for a large manufacturer, and reviews some of the literature on marketing and strategic planning. The focus is on the problems of managing the interface between strategic and marketing management, and the important role played by marketing information, the Chief Marketing Executive and the planning function in achieving effective and integrated strategic marketing planning.     

The mediating role of employee strategic alignment in the relationship between rational strategic planning and firm performance: A European study

Previous empirical studies examining the direct relationship between rational strategic planning and firm performance have produced contradictory results. Therefore, in order to better understand the nature of this relationship, it is important to take into consideration the role of some mediating and moderating variables. We take into account this aspect by testing the mediating role of employee strategic alignment in the rational strategic planning–firm performance relationship. Based on a quantitative empirical study conducted among 372 European firms, we find that employee strategic alignment is a full mediator in this relationship. We then discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of our study. Copyright © 2013 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic planning for marketers.

The merits of strategic planning as a marketing tool are discussed in this article which takes the view that although marketers claim to be future-oriented, they focus too little attention on long-term planning and forecasting. Strategic planning, as defined by these authors, usually encompasses periods of between five and twenty-five years and places less emphasis on the past as an absolute predictor of the future. It takes a more probabilistic view of the future than conventional marketing strategy and looks at the corporation as but one component interacting with the total environment. Inputs are examined in terms of environmental, social, political, technological and economic importance. Because of its futuristic orientation, an important tenant of strategic planning is the preparation of several alternative scenarios ranging from most to least likely. By planning for a wide-range of future market conditions, a corporation is more able to be flexible by anticipating the course of future events, and is less likely to become a captive reactor--as the authors believe is now the case. An example of strategic planning at General Elecric is cited.     

Strategic management training and commitment to planning: critical partners in stimulating firm performance

Few studies to date have been able to establish a clear link between training activities and firm performance. This study shows a relationship between a firm’s level of commitment to planning, management development and training activities and firm performance. The relationship is demonstrated by a higher return on equity for investors. Data from 157 small financial firms in the US were collected and analysed to find out if there was a relationship between the frequency and type of strategic management training, commitment to a strategic planning process, and firm performance. Findings from this study show that there is a significant relationship, resulting in greater return on tockholders’ equity, between the frequency that senior managers attend strategic management training and a firm’s level of commitment to the planning process.     

The anatomy of strategic marketing planning

Strategic planning provides the focus for this two‐part “state of the art” review, to be published in consecutive issues of the Journal. Part one gives an overview of strategic planning and the different environments in which theategic planning process occurs. In part two the author considers the benefits and pitfalls associated with the implementation of a variety of strategic planning frameworks. The product life cycle, growth vector concept and growth share matrix are discussed, amongst others.