Building on previous contingency frameworks, we developed an encompassing contingency model that might explain the inconsistent planning-performance findings reported in previous research The model was empirically tested using meta-analytic data drawn from 26 previously published studies Results suggest that strategic planning positively influences firm performance and that methods factors are primarily responsible for the inconsistencies reported in the literature The substantive contingency factors that we examined, some of which have been frequently cited as important by previous researchers, did not have a large impact

Strategic Planning and Firm Performance: A Synthesis of More Than Two Decades of Research

Although the effect of formal strategic planning on organization effectiveness remains an unresolved issue, a systematic critical review of 18 relevant empirical studies allows valuable insights into the planning-performance controversy The analysis discloses controllable methodological inconsistencies and contingency variable interactions, an awareness of which can improve research designs.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/258071.pdf

The Tenuous Link Between Formal Strategic Planning and Financial Performance

The relationship between formality of planning procedures and financial performance was examined for a sample of small U.S. banks. Small banks without formal planning systems performed equally with small, formal planners. Regardless of formality, each set of banks placed equal emphasis on all aspects of strategic decision-making except formalized goals and objectives. Results suggest that managers responsible for strategic planning activity in smaller organizations do not appear to benefit from a highly formalized planning process, extensive written documentation, or the use of mission and goal identification as the beginning of a strategic planning process.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2486081.pdf

The impact of formalized strategic planning on financial performance in small organizations

After two decades of research, the effect of strategic planning on a firm's performance is still unclear. While some studies have found significant benefits from planning, others have found no relationship, or even small negative effects. Interpretation of these findings is confounded by the fact that many of these studies base their findings on a small number of firms. This article uses meta-analysis to aggregate the results of 29 samples on a total of 2496 organizations. Cumulation of previous studies found modest correlations between planning and nine performance measures. Extensive measurement problems suggest that these findings underestimate the true relationship between planning and performance.

Strategic planning and financial performance: a meta‐analytic review*

Some literature suggests that managers' perceptions of strengths and weaknesses indicators vary by management level. Differences likely result because of individuals' cognitive schemes, which include their cognitive biases. In turn, systematic errors may occur in managerial decisions. Results from the research reported herein support the notion that managers' perceptions of the indicators of a firm's strengths and weaknesses, and of environmental uncertainty, vary by managerial level. Differences in these perceptions were discovered to be more significant within each firm. Implications of these results are examined, including the impact on the deployment of firms' strategy formulation processes.

Strategy formulation processes: Differences in perceptions of strength and weaknesses indicators and environmental uncertainty by managerial level

Planning and performance in Australian retailing

Price is one of the most important and least understood factors of marketing. For a significant number of goods and services, price is established by the technique of competitive bidding. In many instances such competitive bidding occurs after the items have been priced under monopolistic conditions. A study of 356 items which had been priced under sole source and then under competitive conditions showed that the introduction of competition is associated with a reduction in unit price of between 10.8 and 17.5%, depending on the size of the order. The number of units purchased also has a significant effect on price.

David N. Burt

Papers

Planning and performance in Australian retailing

Reduction in Selling Price after the Introduction of Competition