Strategic planning at East African Breweries Limited

The research was undertaken in order to understand strategic planning at East African Breweries \nLimited. The objective of the study was to investigate and document the strategic planning \nsystem at East African Breweries Limited. A number of studies have been done in Kenya \nregarding strategic planning practices in several industries and companies. \nEast African Breweries Limited (EABL), has continued to carry out outstandingly profitable \noperations in the region. Despite its complex, multi business and multi-country nature, it is \nranked among the top performing firms in the region. It was therefore deemed of importance to \nunderstand the sort of EABL's strategic planning system that makes this organization successful \nin a constantly changing environment. It is for this reason that the study was done. \nIn depth interviews were carried out on senior managers who played key roles in strategic \nplanning. Although eight respondents were contacted, only seven interviews were conducted. \nThe respondents were highly experienced people in corporate management. \nThere is no uniform approach to strategic planning, different companies apply different \napproaches. It was evident from the research that East African Breweries Limited has put in \nplace a strategic planning system that is unique to its context. The strategy development process \nis informal, continuous and is integrated into everyday aspects of work. The strategic planning \nprocess is an annual event that is highly formalized, rational and analytical. The two processes \nrun in parallel. EABL's planning system integrates business experience and intuition with \nrigorous analysis. \nFactors such as organizational size, complexity, degree of competition, the need for internal \nconsistency and comprehensiveness will determine how formal or informal a planning system \nwill be. \nThe group-managing director plays a dominant role in strategic planning and is a very influential \nfigure in providing the right culture. However, the board's influence is minimal. \nStrategic plans are developed by top management, functional and operational staff. The planning \nhorizon for these plans was one year due to the constantly changing environment, though \ncompany's planning cycle is 3 years. The marketing function plays a key role in strategic \nplanning. Diverse sophisticated tools are utilized in due process 01 strategic planning. However, \nmuch emphasis is placed on marketing research and financial analysis tools. \nStrategic planning at EABL, takes place at both corporate and business levels. However \nstrategies at both levels are interrelated. All the parts of the business work to accomplish the \nover-riding EABL's corporate mission. Implementation of results is routinely and rigorously \nmeasured and creative methods for encouraging breakthrough thinking are used to collect data to \nfeed on to strategy development. \nStrategic planning at EABL is not without its complications and challenges. This is due to the \ncomplex nature, size, different environments and multiple businesses that pose problems during \nstrategic formulation and implementation stages.