Territorio, territorialidad y conflictos medio-ambientales

Despite the fact that a huge gap exists in the literature of strategic planning in the Middle Eastern context, serious attempts were made by scholars and academics to close the gap in the literature. These are described next.

In an attempt to investigate the relationship between strategic planning practice, management participation, and strategic planning effectiveness in the Middle East, Elbanna (2008 and 2009) conducted two studies, one on privately owned firms working in Egypt, and the other on public and private firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The results of both studies, contrary to expectation, showed that management participation in Arab countries does not contribute to strategic planning effectiveness. A likely explanation for this finding is that the influence of participation on strategic planning effectiveness may be moderated by other variables such as company culture (Marchington, Wilkinson, Ackers and Goodman, 1994).

Moreover, the social-cultural context in Arab countries should be taken into account when interpreting such results. For example, Parnell and Hatem (1994) noted that seeking subordinates‟ participation is considered as a symbol of weak management in the Egyptian setting. However, the studies show that the practice of strategic planning positively and significantly influences its effectiveness. Further, both strategic planning practice and management participation jointly enhance the effectiveness of strategic planning.

A recent study conducted by Yusuf and Saffu (2009) on planning practices, strategy types, and the performance of indigenous firms in Bahrain and United Arab Emirates (UAE) shows that whilst

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most of the firms are long-term planners, many of them do not have a planning process and the majority of the firms are prospectors and analysers (Prospectors are innovators and market leaders who accept higher risk where analysers are opportunistic in the sense of utilizing the best qualities of defenders and prospectors and use informal, adaptive strategies to create alignment). Prospectors in this research context perform considerably better than all the other strategy types which is consistent with other findings regarding significant relationships between strategy type and performance (Khalifa, 2008; Miles and Snow, 1978).

However, the findings regarding strategy type and implementation are inconsistent with previous studies. Also, the study showed that there are no significant differences between planning in young firms compared to mature ones, which is at variance with past research that indicates that as firms become older, their planning intensity diminishes slightly, while younger firms have higher planning intensity (Risseeuw and Masurel, 1994).

One of the first attempts to investigate strategic planning (SP) practices in UAE firms was conducted by Al Shaikh (2001) through a study of 131 firms. The purpose of the study was to assess the presence or absence of strategic planning within the research context, to test whether relationships exist between strategic planning and firm characteristics, and to investigate who is involved in setting strategic planning. Some important findings emerged from this study: First, prevalence of strategic planning practices within this research context is low and not all companies believe in the value of SP. The impact of cultural and environmental factors might be behind such findings. Second, a lack of significant differences between small and large companies regarding planning orientations was related to the cultural and environmental factors. This finding is not consistent with the widespread assumption that the larger the company and the older it is the longer will be its planning horizon. Furthermore, it refutes the argument that large and old firms are likely to be established and, therefore, will have a clearer sense of vision for the future than smaller and younger firms. The fact that most companies in the Emirates are new should not be ignored, especially in that about 42% of the companies included in the study were 10 years old or less.

In order to develop a profile of organisations working in Egypt with respect to their practice of strategic planning, Elbanna (2007) investigated attitudes on the importance of strategic planning, the extent to which the tools of strategic planning are employed, and the involvement by the organisational hierarchy in the strategic planning process. The results showed that a positive attitude towards strategic planning has been noted. However, high percentages of the respondents

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are not familiar with some of what are seen as the traditional tools of strategic management. Also, the results indicated that the formality of the strategic planning process is lower than the formality noted in studies conducted in developed countries. For example, 35.8% of organisations in this study do not have written strategic plans compared to 19.5% in the USA (Glaister and Falshaw, 1999; Ibrahim, Angelidis and Parsa, 2004). Further, the study showed that there are relatively few significant differences in the findings between manufacturing and service organisations compared with the differences between local and foreign organisations and also between small and large organisations within the research context.

Khan and Al-Buarki (1992) looked at planners‟ familiarity and awareness of strategic planning tools and techniques in Bahrain, one of the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries that shares common economic and socio-cultural characteristics with the United Arab Emirates. The study targeted business firms from various sectors as well as public organisations. Ten common strategic planning tools and techniques were selected, which are usually found in use. The result of the study showed that over a fifth of the planners (22 per cent) reported using such techniques regularly, with an additional 17 per cent saying they had tried more of them. The two most widely used tools are financial analysis and SWOT analysis, followed by gap and SPACE analyses. The product life cycle, experience curve and PIMS had received limited use. At the sector level, financial institutions used strategic tools more than other types of firms. The study also showed that a large number of the respondent „planners‟ (61 per cent) are either unaware of or have never used these tools and techniques, and require development programs.

A recent attempt to study the nature and practice of strategic planning in organisations based in UAE was made by Elbanna (2010). The focus of the study was to investigate the time taken for preparing strategic plans and whether these plans are written or not; to explore views and attitudes on the importance of strategic planning; to assess the extent to which the tools of strategic planning are employed within the research context; and to reveal the level of involvement in the strategic planning process by people at different organisational levels. The results of the study showed that only 17.7% of organisations do not have written strategic plans in UAE. Approximately one-third of organisations took one to four months in preparing their strategic plan, and large organisations required a significantly longer time to prepare the strategic plan than small firms do. In relation to attitudes toward strategic planning, a strong belief in the importance of strategic planning was found. The study also concluded that environmental uncertainty is seen as an obstacle to the planning process whereas availability of resources is not. In relation to the use of strategic planning

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tools, the result showed that financial statements, cost-benefit analyses, and (SWOT) analyses are the three most used tools for strategic analysis. The study also concluded that participation in strategic planning is mostly limited to top management, the groups of middle/lower managers and outsiders‟ participation is minimal.

From the above Middle Eastern Literature in relation to strategic planning a number of variations were noted either between Middle Eastern Studies or with literature in different contexts. For example Al Shaikh (2001) noted that prevalence of strategic planning practices is low and not all companies believe in the value of SP. This is inconsistent with Elbanna (2010) who found a strong belief in the importance of strategic planning. This inconsistency however could be due to the time span between the two studies since many strategic initiatives were launched in the last decade and the benefits of it are more materialized in Elbanna study. Another example is the influence of organisational characteristics on planning. Yusuf and Saffu (2009) showed that there are no significant differences between planning in young firms compared to mature ones, while past research indicates that as firms become older, their planning intensity diminishes slightly and younger firms have higher planning intensity (Risseeuw and Masurel, 1994). The inconsistencies between research findings and as decribed previously might be a result of cultural differences rather than business practice.

Most of the findings of strategic planning studies within the Middle Eastern context are explained or justified based on Middle Eastern culture. Therefore, it is important at this stage to shed some light on cultural differences between East and West.