The relationship of strategic planning to financial performance

The relationship between financial performance and characteristics of corporate planning systems was investigated/Planning systems that combined an external focus with a long-term perspective were found to be associated with superior 10-year total return to stockholders. A lagged relationship between such systems and 4-year average annual returns to investors also was identified.     

A strategic planning network for non-profit organizations

Strategic planning processes are seldom treated from a contingency perspective. As a result, practitioners are unable to select a set of planning techniques for a particular situation they confront. This paper constructs methods, defined as sets of techniques, which are applicable to strategic planning for non-profit organizations. These constructed planning methods are matched to strategic archetypes, defined by the sponsor's expectations for quality, acceptance, and/or innovation in the strategy. The contingency framework is presented as a network which identifies planning methods useful for each strategic archetype application.     

Cognitive biases and their impact on strategic planning

Subjective judgements by planners and managers are a major component in the process of strategic planning. If such judgements are faulty, efforts at better strategic plans are likely to be misdirected. This paper discusses those biases which appear common to both managers and planners when they make judgements about risk. Implications of biased judgement are discussed in a planning context. Although we still do not know the best ways to elicit judgements, the paper concludes with a discussion of subjective sensitivity analysis which appears to offer some hope.     

The impact of environmental management systems on financial performance in fashion and textiles industries

With rising environmental concerns from consumers and stakeholder groups, environmental management has become an important responsibility for today's fashion and textiles manufacturers. The production of fashion and textiles related products often requires high levels of energy and water consumption, and emits large quantities of pollutants to the environment. Therefore, the adoption of environmental management systems (EMSs) is important and could have a significant impact on these firms' operational performance. This study presents empirical evidence on the performance impact of EMS adoption in the fashion and textiles related industries (FTIs). Although EMSs have emerged as a passport to business in the FTIs, their actual impacts on firms' financial performance have not been explored. We reveal that the adoption of ISO 14000, the most popular EMS, improves manufacturers' profitability in the FTIs over a three-year period as measured by return-on-assets (ROA). Based on our sample, we find that profitability improvement started during the implementation stage and continued at least one year after the firm obtained ISO 14000 certification. We also find that profitability improvement is mainly due to improvement in cost efficiency, measured by return-on-sales (ROS). Specifically, certified firms improved up to 2.9% in ROA and 3.3% in ROS over the three-year period since they implemented ISO 14000. We conclude that there is a positive impact of EMS adoption on firms' financial performance in the FTIs.     

The selection of delphi panels for strategic planning purposes

Despite the popularity of the Delphi technique little scientific literature exists to help guide the strategic planner in its proper application. In an effort to fill part of that void a comparative test was conducted using both intracompany and intercompany Delphi panels to forecast future events in the socio-political environment of business. The intent was to determine whether the two groups produced similar or different forecasts under virtually identical test conditions. Analysis of the data showed similarities in both the forecast estimates and the degree of consensus achieved across groups. Since strong similarities were demonstrated, the intracompany panel type is recommended to strategic planners based on its unique advantages.     

Short term financial success in large business organizations: The environment-strategy connection

This study examines the interrelationships of environmental changes and strategic action variables with each other and with short term success, for 358 large business firms over a 45 year period. Success (Fortune ratings and ROA) is found to be related to two strategic decision segments. Several strategy-environment relationships are also found. Some methodological problems are noted in the attempt to move policy research from case analysis to statistical explanation.     

A measurement model of strategic planning

While strategic planning is a key concept in management research, there has been little consistency in its conceptualization or measurement. Our review of prior studies also identifies reliability and validity, dimensionality, crude levels of measurement, and lack of parsimony as additional problems associated with prior use of this variable. Such problems substantially limit our ability to compare results across studies, or to make appropriate normative recommendations. We address these concerns by developing and validating a multiple indicator measure of strategic planning, using two independent samples. Implications for future research are then discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The value of formal planning for strategic decisions: Reply

In Armstrong (1982a), I examined alternative explanations to the empirical findings that supported the use of formal planning. In considering the possibility that researcher bias might lead to such results, I used Terpstra's (1981) evaluation scheme. Based on this test, poor methodology did not seem responsible for the conclusions on the value of formal planning.     

The impact of flexibility on operational supply chain planning

We study in this paper the effects of volume flexibility, delivery flexibility and operational decision flexibility in operational supply chain planning under uncertain demand. We use a rolling schedule to plan supply chain operations for a whole year. The planning horizon is 4 weeks with deterministic demand in the first week and predicted for the following 3 weeks. Using a case from the Norwegian meat industry, we compare the annual operating results of using a two-stage stochastic programming model to the deterministic expected value problem in order to discuss the impact of flexibility in the supply chain.     

Medium term planning and control in research organizations

By definition, the processes involved in research involve an element of uniqueness and the exact nature of the end product cannot be predicted with certainty. Thus the means used for planning and controlling organisations for which research is a dominant activity cannot be the same as those for which the activities are repetitive and for which standards can be defined.
This paper describes the differences in planning and control methodology to be expected between process-oriented and research organisations and reports the results of a survey of the accounting practices of 10 research organisations.     

The strategic management of a large scale IT project in the financial services sector

This article explores theoretical and empirical work on IT strategy formulation. While the managerialist focus upon a structured rational text-book model is common in the literature, it is not supported by empirical research on IT projects in the financial services sector.     

The impact of diversification strategy on risk-return performance

This study examines the impact of diversification strategy on risk and return in diversified firms. Following an assessment of previous research on strategic risk, relationships between risk, return, and diversification strategy are hypothesized. Regression analysis shows that differences in risk-return performance among diversified firms are more closely associated with structural factors associated with markets and businesses than with the particular diversification strategy chosen. Returns also influence the choice of diversification strategles which, in turn, do not get rewarded with higher profits. A curvilinear risk-return relationship is also observed which is consistent with previous theoretical suggestions. Implications for the strategic management of risk are then drawn.     

The impact of government purchases on market performance in Australia

This paper discusses the role which federal, state and local governments can play as large buyers in influencing the behavior of sellers in markets. While the available data make it impossible to draw unambiguous conclusions, the evidence is consistent with the possibility that theAustralian Commonwealth (federal) Government has used its market position as a large buyer to encourage competitive behavior, especially in highly concentrated industries. The local preference buying policies of state and local governments, however, may have augmented the effects of market power. The results suggest strongly that omission of variables representing the buying side of markets will lead to misspecification of structure-performance models, and indicate that government purchases could at appropriate times be used in addition to antitrust action, in order to improve market performance.     

金融危机对全球能源投资的影响

国际能源署(IEA)发布的报告——《金融危机对全球能源投资的影响(Theimpact of the financial and economic crisis on global energy investment)》指出,受此次全球金融危机的影响,全球能源供应和需求双方的基础设施投资大幅削减,而能源投资骤减将对能源安全、气候和贫困人群使用能源产生潜在影响。金融危机对全球油气上游投资影响严重,10年来上游投资首次出现下滑,2009年世界油气上游投资预算将比上年减少21%;金融危机对油气下游投资的影响小于上游;大型综合性国际石油天然气公司对危机的应对能力最强。2009年可再生能源投资预算将可能下降38%,生物燃料行业受油价下跌的影响投资下降严重,煤炭行业的投资预计将比2008年下降40%。     

国内外大公司战略规划管理的经验与启示

从国内外大公司战略规划管理的实践入手,重点分析了BP、壳牌、IBM、华为公司、华润集团及长安汽车公司的战略规划管理体系,研究了这些企业从战略规划制定到战略规划执行的有益经验,提出了顶层驱动、闭环管理、战略考核、管理日历、战略评价、组织变革和管理协同等主要建议,从企业实践的角度,对战略规划管理理论进行了有益补充.     

The impact of strategic account managers' behaviors on relational outcomes: An empirical study

This paper explores the impact of some behaviors of strategic account managers on the relational outcomes of the relationships they are in charge of. Based on a review of literature on personal selling and strategic account management, we contribute to a greater understanding of the role of specific strategic account managers' behaviors in fostering synergistic solutions, role performance and customer trust. Results of the empirical study clearly show that the use of customer orientation has a strong influence on customer trust by increasing strategic account managers' role performance and stimulating synergistic solutions. Conversely, a selling orientation negatively affects synergistic solutions, thus decreasing customer trust. Finally, team selling has a positive impact on the attainment of synergistic solutions, thereby fostering customer trust. Based on these findings, managerial and research implications are discussed.     

The influence of desire for control on monitoring decisions and performance outcomes in strategic alliances

Strategic alliances are fraught with risks, such as the uncontrolled disclosure of core knowledge via opportunistic learning. The usefulness of monitoring in policing opportunism notwithstanding, a contrasting view is that monitoring mechanisms can themselves manifest the dark side of strategic alliances. The present study argues that a novel dark personality trait—the focal firm's desire for control—may influence key decisions pertaining to how to monitor strategic alliances, which in turn can negatively impact performance outcomes. Our conceptual model was developed and tested, based on a survey of 404 strategic alliances. The results demonstrate that a focal firm's desire for control is positively associated with process monitoring as well as output monitoring. The firm's use of process monitoring to oversee the counterpart drives its performance outcomes only if there is a low level of information exchange between the alliance partners; as such, information exchange norms substitute for process monitoring. By contrast, the focal firm's use of outcome monitoring is negatively linked to performance unless complemented by a high level of information exchange. Key implications for alliance management and future research are derived from the findings.     

The impact of trust on innovativeness and supply chain performance

Trust is identified as a significant predictor of positive performance in business relationships. On the premise that the effects of trust have not been given the deserved scholarly attention in the supply chain context, this paper investigates the effects of trust on innovativeness and supply chain performance. The hypothesised model is operationalised with survey data and analysed using structural equation modelling. The findings add credence to the positive effects of trust and identify trust and innovativeness as antecedents to higher performance in the supply chain.     

The impact of third-party logistics providers' capabilities on exporters' performance

Third-party logistics (3PL) services have experienced unprecedented growth. However, we are not aware of any study that explores the relationships among logistics outsourcing, competitive advantage, and business performance. We study the mediating role of logistics outsourcing as a strategy to develop firms' capabilities in the strategy-performance relationship. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, we develop a research model grounded in the outsourcing-competitive advantage-performance paradigm. We apply structural equation modeling to empirically test the model using data collected from 150 exporters in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region of China. The results show that there are positive relationships among exporters' strategic orientation towards third-party logistics (3PL) providers, 3PL providers' basic and augmented capabilities, exporters' competitive advantage, and exporters' export performance. We also find that 3PL providers' augmented capabilities and exporters' competitive advantage are strong mediators, supporting the theorized model underpinned by RBV.