IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/stratm/v3y1982i3p197-211.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The value of formal planning for strategic decisions: Review of empirical research

Author

Listed:
  • J. Scott Armstrong

Abstract

A review of research from organizational behaviour supported the guidelines by corporate planners: that is, use an explicit approach for setting objectives, generating strategies, evaluating strategies, monitoring results, and obtaining commitment. To determine whether these findings could be applied to strategic decision making in organizations, a review was made of all published field research on the evaluation of formal planning. Formal planning was superior in 10 of the 15 comparisons drawn from 12 studies, while informal planning was superior in only two comparisons. Although this research did not provide sufficient information on the use of various aspects of the planning process, mild support was provided for having participation by stakeholders. Formal planning tended to be more useful where large changes were involved, but, beyond that, little information was available to suggest when formal planning is most valuable. Future research should assess the formal planning process, the situation in which it is used, and its effects on the total system.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Scott Armstrong, 1982. "The value of formal planning for strategic decisions: Review of empirical research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(3), pages 197-211, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:3:y:1982:i:3:p:197-211
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.4250030303
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250030303
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/smj.4250030303?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Milton Leontiades & Ahmet Tezel, 1980. "Planning perceptions and planning results," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 65-75, January.
    2. Paul C. Nutt, 1977. "An Experimental Comparison of the Effectiveness of Three Planning Methods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 499-511, January.
    3. Richard D. Rosenberg & Eliezer Rosenstein, 1980. "Participation and Productivity: An Empirical Study," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 33(3), pages 355-367, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Armstrong, J. Scott & Reibstein, David J., 1985. "Evidence on the Value of Strategic Planning in Marketing: How Much Planning Should a Marketing Planner Plan?," MPRA Paper 81680, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Abbas Mohammed Hussein & Mohammed Mustafa Ahmed & Mohamed Yahya Mahmoud Khudari, 2021. "The Impact of Strategic Planning in the University’s Competitiveness According to NIAS," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Richtmann Publishing Ltd, vol. 10, September.
    3. McCarthy, Ian & Ridgway, Keith & Leseure, Michel & Fieller, Nick, 2000. "Organisational diversity, evolution and cladistic classifications," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 77-95, February.
    4. Rodolfo M. Nayga & Lukman M. Baga, 1995. "Economic reforms and firm level strategic planning," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 565-572.
    5. Rudd, John M. & Greenley, Gordon E. & Beatson, Amanda T. & Lings, Ian N., 2008. "Strategic planning and performance: Extending the debate," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 99-108, February.
    6. Leonardo Fernando Cruz Basso & Edilson Gonçalves Teixeira & Diógenes Manoel Leiva Martin, 2005. "Factors That Influence Operating Performance Through The Use Of Earnings Or Gainsharing Plans: Evidence In Brazil'S Chemical Industry," Remef - Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas Nueva Época REMEF (The Mexican Journal of Economics and Finance), Instituto Mexicano de Ejecutivos de Finanzas, IMEF, vol. 4(1), pages 13-100, Marzo 200.
    7. Armstrong, J. Scott, 1983. "Strategic Planning and Forecasting Fundamentals," MPRA Paper 81682, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Labroukos, N. S. & Lioukas, S. & Chambers, D., 1995. "Planning and performance in state-owned enterprises: A multidimensional assessment," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 624-640, December.
    9. Mahmood S. Bahaee, 1993. "Strategy-Comprehensiveness Fit and Perfor Mance," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 17(2), pages 195-215, December.
    10. Myron Gable & Martin T. Topol, 1987. "Planning Practices of Small-Scale Retailers," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 12(2), pages 19-32, October.
    11. Armstrong, J. Scott, 1991. "Strategic Planning Improves Manufacturing Performance," MPRA Paper 81677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. McManus, Ginette & Saint-Pierre, Jacques & Domonkos, John, 1995. "Formal strategic planning, informedness and firm performance: An empirical investigation," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 47-63.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:3:y:1982:i:3:p:197-211. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/0143-2095 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.