Corporate strategic planning as practised in South African organizations

Abstract

This article summarizes the findings of a research survey of the corporate strategic planning practices of over 500 South African based organizations. The major portion of the survey is concerned with the following three facets:
(i) Those environmental and organizational characteristics which influence the extent and nature of the planning processes.
(ii) Influences on the need for, and use of, corporate objectives.
(iii) The types of strategies, and methods of formulation, used by different organizations operating under different conditions.
Several ancillary areas are also examined, namely:
(a) specific organizational facets and their planning relationships;
(b) administrative facets of planning;
(c) managerial involvement and the influence on planning departments; and
(d) interest group influence on the formulation of objectives.