Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs

The relationship between strategic planning and firm performance has long interested strategic management researchers. In the past decade, this research effort has slowed down, while strategic planning has gained greater popularity among managers. However, some academics dispute the usefulness of st...

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Main Authors: Thomas, Howard, Ghobadian, Abby, O’Regan, Nicholas, Liu, Jonathan
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3900
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spelling sg-smu-ink.lkcsb_research-48992014-08-01T01:36:20Z Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs Thomas, Howard Ghobadian, Abby O’Regan, Nicholas Liu, Jonathan The relationship between strategic planning and firm performance has long interested strategic management researchers. In the past decade, this research effort has slowed down, while strategic planning has gained greater popularity among managers. However, some academics dispute the usefulness of strategic planning, particularly in turbulent environments. This paper examines the following key research questions that are relevant to both practice and theory. First, the relationship between the formality of strategic planning (conceptualised by considering whether firms have written strategic plans and the level of correspondence between the written strategic plan and the normative planning process) and a wide range of performance measures. Second, the relationship between three contingency factors - size, sector and environment, in addition to the incidence of formal planning and the level of formality. Of great interest are the effects of munificence and turbulence. The results suggest that the link between strategic planning formality and performance is tenuous. Nevertheless, managers tend to deploy strategic planning widely in difficult market environments. The conclusion is that strategic planning is perceived to enhance a firm's survival chances, but not necessarily its short-term performance. 2009-01-01T08:00:00Z text https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3900 Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Business Administration, Management, and Operations
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Business Administration, Management, and Operations
spellingShingle Business Administration, Management, and Operations
Thomas, Howard
Ghobadian, Abby
O’Regan, Nicholas
Liu, Jonathan
Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs
description The relationship between strategic planning and firm performance has long interested strategic management researchers. In the past decade, this research effort has slowed down, while strategic planning has gained greater popularity among managers. However, some academics dispute the usefulness of strategic planning, particularly in turbulent environments. This paper examines the following key research questions that are relevant to both practice and theory. First, the relationship between the formality of strategic planning (conceptualised by considering whether firms have written strategic plans and the level of correspondence between the written strategic plan and the normative planning process) and a wide range of performance measures. Second, the relationship between three contingency factors - size, sector and environment, in addition to the incidence of formal planning and the level of formality. Of great interest are the effects of munificence and turbulence. The results suggest that the link between strategic planning formality and performance is tenuous. Nevertheless, managers tend to deploy strategic planning widely in difficult market environments. The conclusion is that strategic planning is perceived to enhance a firm's survival chances, but not necessarily its short-term performance.
format text
author Thomas, Howard
Ghobadian, Abby
O’Regan, Nicholas
Liu, Jonathan
author_facet Thomas, Howard
Ghobadian, Abby
O’Regan, Nicholas
Liu, Jonathan
author_sort Thomas, Howard
title Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs
title_short Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs
title_full Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs
title_fullStr Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs
title_full_unstemmed Formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: Evidence from the UK’s manufacturing SMEs
title_sort formal strategic planning, operating environment, size, sector and performance: evidence from the uk’s manufacturing smes
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2009
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3900
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