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International schools are a growing class of educational institution. It has been suggested that few schools of this type have a marketing plan whilst research into development planning showed that few had a long‐range plan. This paper aims to investigate these issues.

This paper deals with a survey of 32 international schools in 22 different countries. The public relations practitioner in each was questioned as to the nature of the marketing planning process.

Half of the schools had a marketing plan. Few had a one‐year one, and few had a cyclical one with stages. Several had dispensed with such a plan. The major aim of marketing planning was to attract more students. There was little evidence of it being a strategic process. Few schools involved the whole school body.

This involved a small‐scale survey of international schools at a time when student numbers were high. This survey failed to take into account the growth of this type of school in mainland China.

It is suggested that perhaps some international schools might focus more on non‐rational planning and scenario‐building techniques. Making more contact with the local community might also be beneficial as a strategic marketing aim.

This paper furthers the understanding of the nature and organizational culture of international schools. It builds upon earlier research into development planning in this type of school.

This paper examines the formation of pension plans from a corporate finance perspective. The theoretical underpinnings for selecting a defined‐benefit or defined‐contribution plan are discussed and used to form empirically testable hypotheses. Linear probability and logit models are used to identify corporate financial characteristics that affect the likelihood of forming a defined‐benefit or defined‐contribution plan. The results strongly indicate that firms with high degrees of debt and intangible assets are least likely to form defined‐benefit plans in a post‐reversion situation, while firm size enhances the probability of forming defined‐benefit plans. The growth in private retirement plans over the past quarter century has made pension fund management a critical concern for many financial managers. The total amount of assets in private pension plans amounted to approximately $150 billion in 1970, while this figure was about $2 trillion in 1989. A corresponding trend to this growth has been an acceleration in the formation of defined‐contribution plans relative to defined‐benefit plans. In 1975 about 29 percent of all plans were defined‐contribution plans, and 71 percent were defined‐benefit plans. In contrast, defined‐contribution plans comprised 55 percent of all plans in 1988, while 45 percent were defined‐benefit plans.1 Gustman and Steinmeier (1987) suggest that the shift to defined‐contribution plans in recent years may be attributable to shifts in jobs in the economy away from the manufacturing sector and toward the service sector. Furthermore, the role of unions, firm size, and administrative costs have also been sighted as factors which partially explain the economy wide shift toward defined‐contribution plans (see Gustman and Steinmeier (1989), Clark and McDermed (1990), and Kruse (1991)). In this paper, we address the pension choice by examining the formation of individual plans from a corporate finance perspective. Specifically, we examine the pension choice issue when firms are faced with making this decision after the termination of an overfunded defined‐benefit plan. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Section I discusses the possible motives for selecting one plan over the other, and develops testable hypotheses. The data and methodology are discussed in section II, while section III presents the empirical results. Section IV summarizes and concludes the paper.

Strategic or annual operating plans often lack the substance to be a useful management tool. The head of Uniroyal Goodrich describes how to put a plan together to ensure that it's a winner.

Explores the essence of strategic planning and the urgency for its implementation in the public school setting. Examines some critical elements for successful implementation of this relatively new field for education. Specific caveats are addressed that may lead to unsuccessful implementation. Also presents a brief review and critique of the strategic planning efforts of a Mid‐Western City School District in Texas so that the reader can see firsthand what some public schools in the United States are currently undertaking. Includes (in an Appendix) some of the parameters of the strategic plan that this school district wrote as a guide for itself.

Our societies, our institutions, and our planners face a challenge of historic proportions from the momentous economic, social, and technological forces of our time. How adequate our response to this challenge will be depends, in part, on the clarity with which we perceive the issues and the options before us.

Evaluates the classical theoretical framework of planning and its relevancy in an international context. Additionally, it integrates Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions into the discussion to provide an exploratory analysis of how national culture characteristics may impact cross‐cultural acceptance and application of classical planning principles.

To determine and analyze the information systems planning practices in Indian public enterprises.

The study is an empirical investigation of Indian public enterprises and thus is primary data based. The primary data was collected from a scientifically‐computed sample of respondents through a pre‐tested designed questionnaire. Thus, the collected data was subjected to appropriate statistical methods to reach meaningful conclusions.

The findings from the study provide insights in IS planning practices in Indian public enterprises.

Only two large enterprises in the public sector have been considered for the purpose of this study. Similar studies with a large number of organizations may further increase the reliability of the findings.

The recommendations, based on the findings from this study, can go a long way in improving the health of information systems, which in turn, would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the organizations.

The research is original and is based on the primary data collection and interpretation.

Examines the strategic planning process as well as some practical issues associated with strategic planning. Specific emphasis is placed on a simplified approach to strategic planning. The relationship between strategic planning and performance is discussed. A brief overview of common approaches used to develop strategic plans is also provided. An overview of the development of a preliminary strategic plan for a growing health care organization is discussed to assist practitioners in their planning efforts. Given that the illustration is for an initial strategic plan, an examination of performance implications was not possible. However, practical implications and some of the lessons learned are discussed.

Traditional strategic planning is currently under fire. The product of an era of administered competition—a world in which the external environment was relatively simple, stable, and predictable—strategic planning systems were primarily used as control mechanisms to reduce uncertainty and to allocate power. They were internally focused because most of a company's transactions were internal—checks and balances designed to ensure adherence to its success formula—and because competition itself was essentially internal, pitting business units, functions, and individuals against one another rather than against other players in the marketplace.

Seeks to document a responsive strategy to manufacturing planning with Cussons (UK) Limited, a company operating in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry. In the FMCG environment products are manufactured to a sales forecast, and customers demand 100 per cent service levels within lead‐times, sometimes in the order of hours rather than days. It is essential that a company′s stock replenishment procedures should reflect this situation rather than inhibit its ability to respond. Manufacturing resource planning (MRPII), the standard for planning and procurement used comprehensively within manufacturing industry, is a tool that has been generally accepted and used within the FMCG sector. It was not, however, either designed or developed to cope with the specific demands imposed by this type of business. Suggests that MRPII, rather than facilitating responsive planning, may actually form a barrier to change.