An exploratory study of strategic Planning behaviour in SMEs in Singapore/Malaysia context

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

11-1993

Abstract

Strategic planning literature is extensive but how small and medium sized firms (SMEs) behave in response to environmental changes and how they incorporate such changes in their medium to long term plan has been insufficiently studied, in the writers’ view, especially in Singapore/Malaysia context. This research is dedicated towards finding a framework for such analysis and testing such framework in 15 local/regional companies.

After an extensive literature review from sources which are both international and local, a fairly lengthy questionnaire was developed. As stated, 15 companies’ chief executives (or in their absence, someone equivalent) were interviewed and at the end of each interview a set of structured questions were asked to be filled in. The whole interview process itself took more than a month. The results have been analysed and highlighted. One main finding is that SMEs continue to be family-centred in a local/regional context especially. Among other findings were the process of information gathering which was chiefly informal, the dominance of CEO-centred management, opportunity-seeking and risk-taking in identifying strategies and finally, the role of the spouse-support.

This research is multi-faced and deserves to be further explored. Herein lies its limitation as well as its promise. A research of this nature cannot claim to be fully conclusive and hence its natural incompleteness indicates further research continuation.

Discipline

Accounting | Asian Studies | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Research Areas

Financial Performance Analysis

Publication

Journal of Enterprising Culture

Volume

1

Issue

2

First Page

255

Last Page

278

ISSN

0218-4958

Identifier

10.1142/S0218495893000142

Publisher

World Scientific Publishing

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