Planning practices in the Greek ocean shipping industry

Abstract

Purpose -To investigate and portray the nature and use of formal strategic planning in the Greek ocean shipping industry. Design/methodology/approach -Studies carried out in well-developed industrialised countries, predominantly in the manufacturing sector, have contributed significantly to a better understanding and development of the strategic planning field. Nevertheless, there is lack of research based on countries and sectors/industries that are less conventional in nature. The study attempts to shed some light on how shipping management companies (SMC) carried out strategic planning, through a cross-sectional study based on a random sample of 34 Greek shipping organisations. Findings -The main findings of the study concern the main planning dimensions: planning completeness, formality, internal and external orientation, CEO's involvement, planning horizons and revision frequencies.Research limitations/implications -The study provides a benchmark for the measurement of the development of strategic planning in an important service sector in Greece. In addition, it highlights the extent to which indigenous companies operating in a highly uncertain business environment adopt formal, structured and sophisticated planning approaches. Practical implications -It has been suggested that, if Greek shipping management companies are to obtain the full benefits of planning, systems should be developed which can accommodate advanced financial and scenario planning as well as other strategic tools and techniques. In addition the comprehensive education of the middle level management may contribute significantly to the deeper and timely understanding of the increasingly unpredictable external contingencies. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the existing voluminous literature on planning diffusion by discussing the adoption of planning practices in organisations that operate in a highly uncertain international environment.

Strategic Planning and Organisational Effectiveness in Jordanian Hotels

“…In line with previous research (e.g. Koufopoulos, Logoudis & Pastra, 2005;Dincer et al, 2006;Aldehayyat, 2011), Jordanian hotels use internal scanning less than external scanning. This use is explained by Aldehayyat (2011) who argued that Jordan is facing uncertainty, especially in its external environment, and thus external scanning is needed more than internal scanning.…”

“…Phillips and Moutinho (1999) Formalisation, participation, sophistication and thoroughness. Koufopoulos et al (2005) Planning formality and completeness, internal and external orientation, CEO's involvement, centralisation of the process, time horizon of planning and the frequency Elbanna (2010) Involvement in planning activities, written strategic plans, time horizon for planning and strategy techniques Efendioglu and Karabulut (2010) Strategy techniques, strategic planning issues and planning process. …”

Organisational characteristics and the practice of strategic planning in Jordanian hotels

“…Possible planning horizons are from under 12 months to 10 years (Koufopoulos and Morgan, 1994;Houlden, 1996;Larsen et al, 2000), Koufopoulos et al (2005) and Harrison (1995) argued that there are seven organisational factors that determine the time horizon for the organisation: product life cycle; lead time; technological change; present value; organisational life cycle; validity of planning premises; and views of the members of top management. Strategic time horizons are an important but neglected area of research in the strategic management literature (Judge and Speitzfadem, 1995).…”

“…Glaister et al, 2009;Brews and Purohit, 2007;Koufopoulos et al, 2005;Stonehouse and Pemberton, 2002;Glaister and Falshaw, 1999;Bonn and Christodoulou, 1996). Hospitality and strategy scholars (e.g.…”

The use of strategic planning tools and techniques by hotels in Jordan

“…Moreover the reporting of the use of strategic planning tools has generally been part of a wider study of strategic planning processes (e.g. Glaister et al, 2009;Elbanna, 2007;Dincer et al, 2006;Koufopoulos et al, 2005;Stonehouse and Pemberton, 2002;Glaister and Falshaw, 1999;Athiyaman and Robertson, 1995;Koufopoulos and Morgan, 1994). Aldehayyat and Anchor (2008) demonstrate that Jordanian publicly quoted firms make use of strategic planning tools and techniques.…”