Search results

In this article the focus is upon analytic tools for strategic logistics planning. We discuss a broad set of tools roughly divided into two areas. One area is that of traditional tools such as functional cost analysis and the various modelling approaches and these are briefly reviewed. Principally, however, the discussion centres on newer tools which have not been as widely used and which can be highly effective for strategic planning and especially for strategic logistics planning. In addition, we will present a framework which outlines the various aspects or approaches for strategic logistics planning and identifies the analytic tools that are available and appropriate for each particular aspect of planning.

The purpose of this article is to suggest a framework to be used as a strategic planning tool for culinary tourism projects at destination level.

Based on theoretical background of strategic planning and Leiper’s tourism model, a conceptual tool is suggested. Its value is investigated through an empirical study that was performed, which employed a qualitative research method (discussion groups of experts).

The article suggests a framework to be used as a strategic planning tool for culinary tourism projects. The empirical study identified the merits, drawbacks and limitations of the framework to be taken into account. It can be used only in combination with other tools to achieve a comprehensive approach to designing, managing and marketing culinary tourism assets strategically.

Because of its exploratory nature, the study has inherent drawbacks. The suggested framework should be finalised. Future studies could explore the perspective of visitors deeply and should also investigate the appropriate tools to be implemented at operational management level.

In the fields of strategic management and marketing, the study enhances a comprehensive approach. It contributes to positioning and analysing culinary tourism within the context of a whole destination system. It provides an additional tool for destination planners and managers to be used along with other tools in performing their tasks at strategic level.

It is the first study that suggests and empirically investigates a strategic planning tool at destination level, based on the theoretical backgrounds of strategic planning and tourism system. It provides an integrated approach incorporating the main issues to be dealt with in the field of culinary tourism.

The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of the strategic management tool, Strengths‐Weaknesses‐Opportunities‐Threats or SWOT analysis, and to assess how the methodology has been used as well as changes to the methodology. The findings both for and against SWOT analysis should lead to a balanced view of the technique as well as yield ideas for needed theory building.

Using the ABInform Global® database, academic peer‐reviewed articles were compiled indicating SWOT as one of the article's key index and search words.

The use of SWOT analysis continues to permeate the academic peer‐reviewed literature. Research supports SWOT analysis as a tool for planning purposes. Over the past decade, SWOT research has focused on analyzing organizations for recommended strategic actions. As a methodology for strategic positioning, SWOT analysis has been extended beyond companies to countries and industries and is used in virtually every published business case positioned for business student analysis. Additional use of SWOT is as teaching tools by consultants, trainers and educators. This paper provides a summary of the research studies and suggests paths for future research.

This paper is limited to analyzing reports found in a selection of academic peer‐reviewed business journals. However, research implications for applying SWOT analysis provides a broad spectrum of industry analysis in North America, Europe, and Asia. Additional limitations are the need to link SWOT analysis to other strategic tools and methodologies for further theory building, since past research continues to lack quantifiable findings on the success of the SWOT analysis.

A fresh view of new directions and implementations for SWOT analysis, as well as other strategic planning tools that can be combined with SWOT, provides guidance for practitioners and policy makers alike.

The article adds value to the existing literature as the first summary of SWOT research indicating its uses and limitations. Support of its usage and place in the strategic literature is validated. The SWOT methodology is pervasive, in large part, due to its simplicity. In addition, the use of SWOT as a proven developmental, results‐oriented strategic planning tool is also extended, although further research leading to theory building is warranted and recommended.

The expert system for the selection of strategic planning technique was developed with a view of assisting an executive in selecting a strategic planning tool based on constraints such as: time, skill, finance, computer, expert advice, form and content of input, and form and content of output required to be generated. The expert system runs on IBM PC/AT or compatible, which is the minimum system requirement, and contains approximately 115 rules in the rule base. The expert system was developed in Turbo Prolog^TM. The premises which help in concluding a particular strategic planning tool are stored in separate file called ‘STRATEGY.DAT’ and can be consulted at the end of the session by the user. This file saves current session's premises which concluded the particular strategic planning tool. The system, after recommending a tool, outputs a list of planning phases where the implementation of such a strategic planning tool will succeed. It runs on a backward chaining inference mechanism which is a feature of Turbo Prolog^TM.

The tools and techniques of strategic planning are being increasingly used in many parts of the world. Suggests that, although the planners in Bahrain appear to have limited awareness, there is a clear need for them to become more familiar with various tools and techniques to enhance their planning ability. Reports on recent research into the use of ten of the most common planning techniques: SWOT analysis, the product life cycle, the experience curve, the growth‐share matrix (BCG), the directional policy matrix, the PIMS study, gap analysis, perceptual mapping, financial analysis and SPACE analysis.

Strategic frameworks and tools of analysis have been the subject of much academic debate over the last 20 years. This paper reviews the main approaches to strategic management and, by presenting the results of a survey of 159 small and medium sized enterprises selected from both the service and manufacturing sectors, demonstrates a divide between the theoretical concepts and the practical realities of strategic planning. While there are strong indications of business planning among the organisations surveyed, there is less evidence of strategic thinking except among larger businesses. Even in this latter group there are only a few instances where the recognised tools of strategic management appear to play a role in planning, the exception being internal financial analysis, which is widely undertaken.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current strategic planning practices in the MENA region by highlighting the practices in the Saudi telecommunications industry (Saudi TI) and the external and internal factors that influence strategic planning in the Saudi TI.

The data comprised those from a questionnaire-based survey of a random sample of managers of Saudi TI firms, supplemented with data from secondary sources.

The results revealed that most participating managers recognized the potential benefits of using strategic planning in their firms. Several significant factors that impacted on the decision-making process with regard to strategic planning in Saudi TI firms were identified.

The main contribution of this paper is to fill an existing knowledge gap on strategic planning in a key industry such as the telecommunications industry in a country that is of importance as a business hub in the Middle East.

The purpose of this paper is to show how collaborative information technology (IT) tools and a crowdsourcing model can be leveraged for the purpose of strategic planning. To achieve this objective, a formal method of open strategic planning (OSP) is proposed.

Based on a review of the literature a set of activities, stakeholders, and governing rules are identified in the form of an OSP method. The proposed planning method is implemented in a case study of strategic planning in an Australian university. Observations by the research team, and archival records were used to ascertain the relevance of the used method.

A method for OSP is presented and assessed. The method contains four phases: pre-planning, idea submission, idea refinement, and plan development. These phases cover the activities required from conceptualization to preparing and publishing the strategic plan. The findings clarify how the principles of OSP helped the organization to include more stakeholders and provided the opportunity to make the planning process transparent through use of a collaborative IT tool.

The study provides managers and planning consultants with detailed guidelines to implement the concept of open strategy.

This study is among the few to propose a method for OSP based on empirical research. The study also shows how collaborative IT tools can be used for high-level organizational tasks such as strategic planning.

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of tools and techniques of strategy and strategic analysis within small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a part of the strategy formation process.

This study uses a qualitative, multiple-case-based investigation with semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources to create a context-rich insight to the area examined.

The findings indicate a strong orientation towards operational tools deployment aligned with financial management and resources and process planning, monitoring and control. Strategic perspectives of the respondents indicate an implicit, rather than explicit deployment of strategy tools and unstructured deployment, but general awareness of the resulting component issues. Clearer strategic approaches and strong implementation appear to positively influence success, when measured by growth.

This study is limited to nine organisations within a UK geographic region, and therefore, larger-scale investigation would be beneficial to extend and confirm the findings in differing contexts.

With resource scarcity potentially stymying the opportunity for owner-managers to develop more structured approaches to strategic analysis and development, consideration should be given to how owner-managers can further develop their strategic thinking to support enhanced strategic outcomes for their organisations. Furthermore, strategy educationalists may wish to reflect upon the manner in which they prepare delegates for strategic roles, where the SME context may differ radically from corporate experience.

The methodology for this study differs substantially from previous investigations within the field, which has had relatively few contributions, as it uses in-depth, context-rich qualitative techniques to investigate the micro-processes at play. The conclusions capture new insights and indications and identify areas for further investigation, hence adding to the understanding of a complex and heterogeneous field.