Strategic planning: a practice perspective on strategic initiatives an applied study on Saudi telecommunication companies

Abstract

This research focuses on the link between strategic planning activities, and the development and implementation of strategic initiatives. It explores the activities and practitioners involved in the development and implementation of strategic initiatives during strategic planning. The theoretical lens applied in this research is activity theory (Blackler, 1993; Engestrom, 1987; Jarzabkowski, 2003), which is proposed to help explore the strategic planning process over time (Vygotsky, 1978; Jarzabkowski, 2003, Jarzabkowski & Balogun, 2009), in addition to the exploration of the internal dynamics of organisational continuity and change (Jarzabkowski, 2003). In order to achieve the research aim, a qualitative positivist paradigm (Burrell & Morgan, 1979; Easterby-Smith et al., 1991, Nutt, 1989, 2004) and multiple case study methods (Eisenhardt, 1989; Yin, 2003) were employed to guide the entire research process. Multiple data collection methods were employed, namely observations, interviews, and document analysis in three Saudi telecommunications companies over a period of more than 2 years. Eisenhardt (1989), Miles & Huberman, (1994), and Yin’s (2003) methods were employed for analysing the qualitative data. The outcomes highlighted the activities of the strategic planning process in general, and then on those specific activities that influence the development and implementation of strategic initiatives in the three cases. Subsequently, within and cross-case analysis explored further, the three stages of the development and implementation of strategic initiatives, i.e. of initiation, development, and implementation. The outcomes also explained how these specific activities influence the development and implementation of strategic initiatives, in terms of the sequences of activities, and the contradictions that have been found between their components. The study also provided solid evidence on the practitioners involved in the strategic planning process and on their role during the three stages, and on the tools used during these stages of strategic initiatives.

This study makes several potential contributions including analysing strategic planning activities through the use of the activity theory model, understanding the influence of the strategic planning activities on developing and implementing strategic initiatives, and extending understanding in relation to the strategic planning process in the context of the Saudi telecommunications industry. This understanding is significant in the business environment due to the limited amount of existing research of the strategic planning process from a practice perspective and in the Saudi environment in particular.

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