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This paper aims to examine the role of social capital as a strategic decision aid in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in different service sectors.

Data on 434 strategic decisions in service SMEs was gathered through computer‐aided telephone interviews and analyzed using structural equation modeling to test the mediating role of level of risk acceptance and confidence in the relationship between the breadth of social capital and decision effectiveness.

Evaluative judgments (risk acceptance and confidence) explain the negative effects of social capital on decision effectiveness. Service delivery and dependency on tacit know‐how account for differences between SMEs in different service sectors and serve as explanations for different effects of social capital as a decision aid.

The study sheds light on the psychological underpinnings of social capital effects in strategic decisions. Higher varieties of actors make decision makers more tolerant for risk and decrease their confidence, which in turn hampers decision effectiveness.

Previous work on social capital suggests that it is beneficial to outcomes. The literature and policy initiatives also stress the beneficial effects of social capital and networking. This research on strategic decision‐making shows that the positive effects of social capital are not as pronounced as expected for the service SMEs. This paper draws explicit attention to the negative effects for strategic decision‐making.

This paper aims to examine small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) strategic capabilities in terms of their marketing and management capabilities, their sources of environmental uncertainty and their organizational capabilities. Additionally, to what extent the effect differs across two sectors (manufacturing and service).

Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to conduct multigroup analysis for the two sectors. Data was collected from a sample of 315 Omani SMEs, 166 from manufacturing and 149 from services.

The results show that strategic capabilities have a significant positive effect on customer satisfaction. However, the effect differs between manufacturing and service SMEs; the effect is greater in service than in manufacturing SMEs. Furthermore, the effect of organizational capabilities on customer satisfaction was found to be positive. However, the effect is higher in manufacturing as the difference is statistically significant.

Due to the growing importance of the service and manufacturing SMEs in developing countries and their considerable involvement in economic development, it is important to understand the characteristics of the strategic capabilities in both sectors. Thus, according to the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first to propose a comprehensive framework that measures collectively the direct impact of strategic capabilities, organizational capabilities and environmental uncertainties on SMEs customer satisfaction and effectiveness.

The banking distribution system is going through a rapid process of change. This research study focuses on the analysis of the perceptions, of 58 bank branch managers selected from 14 branches belonging to two major Scottish banks, of the impact of a variety of planning practices on competitiveness, overall performance, strategic planning effectiveness and marketing effectiveness. The gathered data were then subjected to a number of learning iterations as part of a specifically designed neural network topology. Major findings derived from the study revealed that: bank branch effectiveness is affected by effective management practices; the overall performance of the branch depends highly on both long term thinking and innovation; long‐term thinking seems to have also a high degree of impact on strategic planning effectiveness; and finally, the degree of precision attached to planning, programming, budgeting and control seems to trigger high levels of marketing effectiveness.

Strategic planning is currently back in vogue as a key managerial process. However, despite the voluminous amount of strategic planning literature there has been a paucity of research that has measured planning effectiveness. This paper proposes a diagnostic tool developed for hotels called the strategic planning index (SPI) that measures planning effectiveness. Six factors were found to be critical to effective planning: planning implementation; future performance; past performance; functional coverage; reliance on analytical techniques; and staff planning assistance.

The purpose of this paper was to test and explore alignment theory as a guiding principle for human resource development (HRD) by performing an empirical study. HRD scholars, professionals and others have adopted or assumed alignment theory to help explain HRD effectiveness.

Constructs to measure an organisation’s strategic priorities and its HRD practices. A measure of HRD effectiveness was developed. A survey gathered data from 270 employees, managers and HRD staff in a sample of 76 organisations.

The results show that HRD effectiveness does not vary with alignment as predicted. Forms of partial alignment, or the relations of an “odd couple”, are more strongly associated with HRD effectiveness than high alignment.

The use and integration of both normative measures (Likert scale) and ipsative measures (ranking) is necessary to capture alignment, but this limits the inferential statistics available to test validity and reliability. Qualitative data on case studies would be useful to explore alignment issues in context and depth.

Stakeholders in organisations can use the “odd couple” interpretation of alignment as a fresh way to review and explore the opportunities and challenges of managing HRD effectiveness in an era where a narrowing and retrenchment of provisions is occurring and increasing.

This study provides evidence which raises questions about alignment theory and policies intended to increase alignment. It suggests in the case of HRD, an alternative perspective that validates partial alignment can support effective HRD provisions.

The purpose of this study is to address a timely research question by clarifying whether formal planning is a worthy approach for hotels. In so doing, the authors developed a theoretical model that extends prior research by exploring how the formal planning process influences organizational capabilities and decision-making style. The model also examines the impact of the three identified factors on planning effectiveness.

Data were collected from 175 hotels located in United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The study concludes that the practice of formal planning in the tourism sector does matter and both organizational capabilities and decision-making style are important factors in predicting planning effectiveness.

Generalizations to organizations operating in other sectors, such as manufacturing or government sectors, should be drawn cautiously.

Taking into account oil price volatility and serious political crises in the region, this study provides several insights to hotel managers into how the formal planning process can influence planning effectiveness.

The findings enrich the debate on the role of formal planning in the tourism sector, which has been relatively devoid of similar studies.

Both for‐profit and not‐for‐profit organisations have been replacing face‐to‐face HRM activities with web‐based HRM tools, e‐HRM for short, for employees and managers since the 1990s. This paper aims to look at whether this is of benefit to an organisation.

The study was conducted in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in The Netherlands, where e‐HRM in the form of employee self‐service applications was introduced.

The study shows that individual assessment of e‐HRM applications influences HRM technical and strategic effectiveness. This is especially so in the perceived quality of the content and the structure of e‐HRM applications which have a significant and positive effect on technical and strategic HRM effectiveness.

It is difficult to form generalizations from the research into only one company.

The basic expectations are that using e‐HRM will decrease costs, will improve the HR service level and will give the HR department space to become a strategic partner. This study investigates whether this is the case.

The area on which this study concentrates has not had extensive academic research conducted into it.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational culture on strategic planning and the role of leadership effectiveness in the association between organizational culture and strategic planning in Indian nonprofit organizations (NPOs).

Data were collected from 441 respondents using a structured questionnaire. Common method bias was addressed through the use of multiple surveys. Structural equation modeling was used to process the data.

Advice-seeking interactions, collaborative culture and an error management culture positively impacted the creation and conceptualization of strategic plans in Indian NPOs. An error aversion culture did not significantly impact the creation and conceptualization of strategic plans. Leadership effectiveness moderated the relationship between “advice-seeking interactions” and the “creation and conceptualization” of the strategic plan, a “collaborative culture” and the “creation and conceptualization” of the strategic plan and an “error management culture” and the “creation and conceptualization” of the strategic plan.

Strategic management literature on the determinants of the creation and conceptualization of strategic plans is scant. Further, it does not include the influence of cultural constructs such as advice-seeking interaction (ASI), collaborative culture (CC), error management culture (EMC), error aversion culture (EAC) on the creation and conceptualization of strategic plans. This study extends the debate on the culture–strategy nexus to help practitioners understand the importance of organizational culture (advice-seeking interaction, collaborative culture, error management culture, error aversion culture) in creating strategic plans.

Mintzberg has severely criticised the current state of strategic planning practices (1994). So thorough was his condemnation of planning, plans and planners that Peters, in a brief review of Mintzberg's work, offered a eulogy to strategic planning as we know it, “Rest In Peace” (1994). However, after arguing convincingly against the effectiveness of strategic planning in all situations, Mintzberg does suggest that there may be situations or certain contexts in which strategic planning is beneficial (1994).

This paper argues that currently management accounting is simply too narrow and proposes how to broaden its scope to make it more relevant and useful.

The approach is to provide a critique of the extent to which management accounting sufficiently deals with three primary areas that classic management accounting has been myopic about at least to some extent: Organizational control, Organizational measurement, and Intellectual assets.

The paper argues that management accounting has not taken a “deep dive” into these areas and has placed itself at risk of being marginalized. It presents potential frameworks and tools of organizational control, organizational measurement, and intellectual assets as “add-ons” to management accounting to increase its relevance and utility.

The paper shows how management accounting must be broadened to include all organizational measurement and accountability for planning and control.

The paper describes several global applications of the proposed revised frameworks, methodologies, and tools presented as potential add-ons to management accounting. These applications demonstrate the feasibility, utility, and generalizability of the broader management accounting “tool box” presented.

The paper proposes a revised paradigm for management accounting. This paradigm is original and its value is in serving as a catalyst for academics as well as practitioners to rethink and broaden the current paradigm of management accounting in order to be more relevant and useful. It provides a potential new set of tools for management accounting.