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Planning practices, strategy types and firm performance in the Arabian Gulf region

Attahir Yusuf (Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Abuja, Nigeria)
Kojo Saffu (Faculty of Business, Brock University, St Catherines, Canada)

Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues

ISSN: 1753-7983

Article publication date: 21 August 2009

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate planning practices, strategy types, and the performance of indigenous firms in Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from cheif executive officers (CEOs) and top management of 95 local companies sampled from Chamber of Commerce and Industry databases in Bahrain and UAE using face‐to‐face interviews. Analysis of variance and univariate logistic regression are employed in analyzing the data.

Findings

Although most of the firms are long‐term planners, many of them do not have a planning process. Majority of the firms are Prospectors and Analyzers. Prospectors perform considerably better than all the other strategy types. Nevertheless, the firms that are included in this paper appear to be cautious and not aggressive in entering new markets or in taking the lead in introducing and marketing new products.

Research limitations/implications

The paper suffers from selection bias by focusing on indigenous‐owned companies. Also, the data originate from self‐reported responses from business leaders and executives. The results do not establish causality. Finally, only broad demographic links are considered. Other individual and firm variables may influence performance in different ways than indicated here.

Practical implications

Managers must pay heed to the usefulness of planning and ensure that their companies have a planning process in place. Given the performance of Prospectors, managers must adopt some prospector strategies. Experience and high level of education as essential ingredients to successful planning and performance require management consideration.

Originality/value

The paper provides empirical support for Miles and Snow typology and corroborates the existing understanding that planning is beneficial to firms from an under‐researched part of the world.

Keywords

Citation

Yusuf, A. and Saffu, K. (2009), "Planning practices, strategy types and firm performance in the Arabian Gulf region", Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 203-217. https://doi.org/10.1108/17537980910981778

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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