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There are two goals of this study. First, it seeks to offer a cultural perspective with regard to the aspects of conflict in strategic decision making in Egypt. Second, it aims to examine the impact of conflict on decision effectiveness, taking into account the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty and environmental munificence.

The study is a multi method one in which both semi‐structured interviews and survey questionnaires were utilized. In total, 36 semi‐structured interviews were conducted and 135 usable questionnaires were collected from manufacturing firms. Various statistical techniques were used to validate the instrument and analyze the data.

This article offers new insights into the perception of conflict in Egypt. It also corroborates prior research in that conflict was found to significantly influence decision outcomes and strategic decision‐making process matters.

Both task and affective conflicts are treated in the context of their cultural and economic underpinnings and thus enable managers and researchers to have realistic views on the nature and impact of conflict in strategic decision making.

This article is designed to address a management concept which may be perceived differently across cultures – conflict. It also contributes to fill a gap in the strategic management literature by examining the perception of conflict and its impact on decision effectiveness considering the effects of setting and environment.

First, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence of the interaction between the components of an internal control system. Second, it seeks to integrate work from the field of strategy and that on the internal control system from the field of auditing. The purpose of this paper is to enable a more profound understanding of how different strategic orientations may influence effectiveness, depending on the components of the internal control system.

Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using multiple regression analysis, i.e. a three‐way interaction model. The result was a usable sample of the opinions of 741 managers working in Finland.

The results indicate that, for prospector firms, high degrees of internal control activity and low degrees of monitoring ensure a greater effectiveness of the internal control system. On the other hand, for analyzers a high degree of internal control activity and high degrees of monitoring lead to a highly effective internal control system. In addition, our findings indicate no significant differences between defenders and analyzers.

The research is limited to only two components of the internal control system, namely, internal control activities and monitoring. Future research is needed to examine the interactions of other components of the internal control system.

The paper demonstrates the need for managers to be aware of the drivers of the effectiveness of the internal control system and the relationships essential to drive effectiveness, especially when operating in different strategic fields. While all components of an internal control system are vital, this study shows that a good fit between them can lead to improved effectiveness.

This is the first empirical study that has used a three‐way interaction method to study internal control structures and their effectiveness in an organizational context. Coupled with previous work, it suggests the need for both researchers and practitioners to examine the interactions of an internal control system and how they impact on the effectiveness of that system.

As e‐business strategies have received growing attention from entrepreneurs, executives, investors and industry, information systems (IS)/information technology (IT) strategic planning has progressively come to be considered a critical method for developing a successful e‐strategy. However, despite the growing number of theoretical frameworks for IS/IT strategic planning, practical implementation faces several problems. Most importantly, numerous IS/IT strategic planning frameworks do not seem to realize that IS‐related problems are not merely technological, but are also caused by neglecting the interrelationship between IS/IT and organizational context. This study aims to identify and explore the key organizational mechanisms related to IS/IT strategic planning, and thus improve planning effectiveness. The proposed mechanisms provide a valuable reference for business managers or strategic planners who are initiating or conducting IS/IT strategic planning exercises in the digital era, and for researchers interested in information systems management.

To investigate the impact of performance measurement in strategic planning process.

A large scale survey was conducted online with Warwick Business School alumni. The questionnaire was based on the Strategic Development Process model by Dyson. The questionnaire was designed to map the current practice of strategic planning and to determine its most influential factors on the effectiveness of the process. All questions were close ended and a seven‐point Likert scale used. The independent variables were grouped into four meaningful factors by factor analysis (Varimax, coefficient of rotation 0.4). The factors produced were used to build regression models (stepwise) for the five assessments of strategic planning process. Regression models were developed for the totality of the responses, comparing SMEs and large organizations and comparing organizations operating in slowly and rapidly changing environments.

The results indicate that performance measurement stands as one of the four main factors characterising the current practice of strategic planning. This research has determined that complexity coming from organizational size and rate of change in the sector creates variation in the impact of performance measurement in strategic planning. Large organizations and organizations operating in rapidly changing environments make greater use of performance measurement.

This research is based on subjective data, therefore the conclusions do not concern the impact of strategic planning process' elements on the organizational performance achievements, but on the success/effectiveness of the strategic planning process itself.

This research raises a series of questions about the use and potential impact of performance measurement, especially in the categories of organizations that are not significantly influenced by its utilisation. It contributes to the field of performance measurement impact.

This research fills in the gap literature concerning the lack of large scale surveys on strategic development processes and performance measurement. It also contributes in the literature of this field by providing empirical evidences on the impact of performance measurement upon the strategic planning process.

Quantitative modelling seems admirably suited to help managers in their strategic decision making on operations management issues, but in practice models are rarely used for this purpose. Investigates the reasons why, based on a detailed cross‐case analysis of six cases of modelling‐supported strategic decision making. In several of these cases, effective strategic decision making was achieved despite unfavourable technical contingencies, such as a lack of quantitative data, or low tangibility of the issue at stake. This suggests that such technical conditions cannot be crucial for effective model‐based support. However, no case was found where good overall results were achieved under adverse organizational conditions, such as low quality of communication between stakeholders during the modelling/decision‐making process and low ownership with these stakeholders for the resulting model and its implications. This suggests that such organizational contingencies are indeed crucial for effective model‐based support. The modelling method described achieved good communication and ownership by operating in a process‐oriented consulting mode, where client participation in group model‐building sessions played a central role.

Reinforces the argument that strategic and competitive success demands competence at three levels: content, change and learning. Notes that to achieve this, organizations must draw on a range of generic competences and develop an appropriate mix and measure, and that if they can achieve this they can become both competent and conscious of why they are competent and successful. Points out that this demands effective information management at a number of distinct levels, and the ability of the organization to manage both continuous and discontinuous change. Comments that the latter requires double‐loop learning and involves all members of the organization together with its external stakeholders, and that strategy, structure and style may need to be changed simultaneously. Concludes that the process of competence management must be underpinned by robust measurement, and that while organizations actively measure resource efficiencies, the extent to which they seek to measure all their strategic competences remains an issue.

The paper aims at generating a better understanding of the design elements and related management practices of strategic account management programs, in order to assist firms wishing to design such programs.

The research process is based on systematic combining of literature, empirical data from interviews with nine multi‐national firms, interaction with the firms during the research, and the knowledge resource base of the Strategic Account Management Association.

A strategic account management program (SAMP) is defined as a relational capability, involving task‐dedicated actors, who allocate resources of the firm and its strategically most important customers, through management practices that aim at inter‐ and intra‐organizational alignment, in order to improve account performance (and ultimately shareholder value creation). The research identified four inter‐organizational alignment design elements: account portfolio definition, account business planning, account‐specific value proposition, account management process; and four intra‐organizational design elements: organizational integration, support capabilities, account performance management, account team profile and skills. The management practices pertinent to each element are discussed.

Firms need to ensure that a SAMP is configured so that there is fit between the design elements discussed. Focus should be put on identifying framing elements that set the foundation for configuring effective programs, as they determine the prerequisites for other elements.

The paper contributes to the literature on strategic account management by summarizing extant research and developing an organizing framework, informed by an empirical study.

The research paper aims to unveil the practical use of Lean Six Sigma and its effectiveness as a business survival strategic tool by a chemical product realization concern, as well as to establish the market and business performance impacts on the manufacturing entity.

A case study approach was pursued with a multi-national chemical manufacturing entity in South Africa. A comprehensive literature research was undertaken to establish the contemporary tools used for implementing Lean Six Sigma, and the classification and flow of tools and steps undertaken to ensure the successful and effective application of Lean Six Sigma in a manufacturing organization and the benefits derived. The critical success factors and reasons of ineffective use of tools are reviewed. To ensure that a comprehensive research was conducted which is relevant to the body of knowledge in engineering, recent articles on the application of Lean Six Sigma were selected and reviewed during the progress of the study to add impetus to the relevance of the findings.

The research findings were mainly based on the inferences obtained from a chemical product manufacturing concern in South Africa, to distinguish the efficacy and relevance of Lean Six Sigma as strategic business survival tool and imputing strategic resonance to corporate strategy.

This research was limited to distinguishing Lean Six Sigma as a business survival strategic tool and an ultimate enhancer of market performance for a chemical product manufacturing entity. The implementation and evaluation of the Lean Six Sigma methodology as a business survival strategic and market performance enhancement option for the case study organization was entailed as the corollary of deductive resemblance to similar entities.

This study enables continuous improvement practitioners to evaluate the Lean and Six Sigma practices. The advantages posed by the simultaneous and optimized application of the two approaches versus individual application were assessed and verified to produce enhanced continuous improvement. This poses further challenges to scholars and academics to pursue further researches on the practicality of applying Lean Six Sigma as a strategic option.

The paper prompts the efficacy of well publicized methodologies and evaluates their implementation for strategic performance for manufacturing organizations. The practical application, constraints and resultant effects of deploying Lean Six Sigma were reviewed to give impetus to the methodology.

The research into SME”s is often presented as quite distinct from strategy or general management research. This paper examines the literature on Strategic Decision Making (SDM) process, drawing in some findings from the SME sector which show some key similarities. The paper makes proposals for research into SDM processes in SME’s, which would clarify both the general management theory and theory relating to SME’s.