Strategic Planning and Corporate Performance Relationship in Small Business Firms: Evidence from a Middle East Country Context

Abstract

This research aims to identify strategic planning system characteristics in Jordanian small industrial firms and toexamine its relationship with corporate performance. This is one of the first studies to examine such questions.Existing literature, both theoretical and empirical, is examined to identify the state of knowledge associated withthis question in both developed and middle East countries. The empirical research was co-ordinated via a surveyof small Jordanian industrial publicly quoted firms. A questionnaire survey of these firms yielded a 52.1 per centresponse rate. The results of the survey provided a rich source of data in relation to a variety of practicesassociated with strategic planning in small Jordanian industrial firms. Key findings provided empirical evidenceabout the involvement of top and line management in planning, the use of environmental screening, and the useof strategy tools and techniques. Furthermore, the study found a strong positive relationship between strategicplanning and corporate performance. This research gives a new empirical evidence about the value of strategicplanning to corporate performance from Middle East countries context.