The main article to be evaluated is entitled “Strategic planning in a turbulent environment: Evidence from the oil majors” developed by Rober Grant (2003). This is in recognition that strategic planning plays a great role in effective performance of any organization including its quest for profit maximization. Indeed, an enterprise would not achieve its investment goals if it had a shaky strategic planning framework.
The aim of this study is to provide a summary of this article but with the hope that its findings can be used to develop more research on the study topic. The article is aimed at assessing the extent to which companies have directed their strategic planning processes towards addressing the rapid, unpredictable and changing business world dynamics. The author aims at identification of the main features underlying strategic planning systems in light of an industry that transitioned from being stable to turbulent.
In terms of contributions, the findings are relevant to strategic management understanding. For instance, it provides information on processes of strategic planning applied across the world’s biggest companies from the period 1990. It also demonstrates how such practices have evolved amidst increased turbulent situations.
It provides reconciliation between the “design” and “process” as applied in different schools of management. Finally, it illuminates more on effective management of complex enterprises that operate in dynamic business environments.
In the main theories, the author articulates various themes. For instance, he focuses on planning and environmental turbulence, the implications of environmental turbulence, strategic innovation among others.
In the section for empirical evidence, the author refers to the link between formal and informal strategic planning procedures. The assertion is that a greater part of major companies observes formal strategic planning processes.
In terms of approach, the development of this article used an exploratory methodology in investigating the extent to which corporations’ strategic planning models have withstood increased environmental turbulence. Thus, the author did not opt for formal hypothesis testing. This is because the study sought to develop descriptive data relating to strategic planning procedures in major companies.
The main investigation included are the following:
- Assessing the principal features underlying strategic planning models in large and international corporations;
- Establishing the impact of increased volatility and unpredictability as a result of strategic planning processes used in a given corporation;
- Evaluating on how companies’ systems of strategic planning interrelate with rational, analytic, formalized, staff-driven procedures; the same analysis extends to the manner in which such are consistent with emergent strategies underlying “process school”.
Thus, the study aims at international oil companies due to the fact that they succumbed to depression in oil prices among other economic crisis. The study also supports its findings by conducting interview surveys in different companies.
It has been affirmed that strategic planning plays a major role in how large companies manage their systems. However, it was not oblivious that practices in strategic planning had undergone transformations over the past years in the quest to respond to the challenges caused by turbulence and unpredictable environments.
The study addresses significant issues that might be of great help today. As mentioned earlier, strategic planning is something that contemporary organizations must take into serious consideration because it directly relates to the main objectives of an investment. That is why nowadays this article can be a helpful resource because its findings may be used to improve strategic planning of many organizations.
Reference
Rober, G. (2003). Strategic planning in a turbulent environment: Evidence from the oil majors. Strategic Management Journal, 24 (6), 491-517