High-growth firms and the use of formalised planning and control systems

Previous research has argued that with growing size firms increasingly rely on more formalised planning and control systems. This paper addresses what kind of systems high-growth companies use and perceive as most beneficial for their growth. A pilot study served to identify which planning and control systems medium-sized firms most commonly employ as well as how these are perceived in relation to business growth. Findings from the pilot study were translated into an e-mail survey administered to the entire population of medium-sized high-growth firms ('gazelles') in Sweden, generating a response rate of 35.2%. In the pilot study, three formalised planning and control systems were identified as most commonly used. A clear majority of the surveyed gazelles use one or several of these systems and perceive them as important for achieving continuous growth. However, the integration of these systems (strategic planning, management systems, and enterprise resource planning) was rather low. Overall, strategic planning was the system relied on the most, while management systems were used the least. The originality of this paper lies in the exploration of the use of different formalised planning and control systems and their perceived relation to high-growth.