A study of strategic planning in the defense-electronics industry.

Abstract : In this study the researcher examines long-range planning as practiced by certain companies in the defense-electronics industry. The approach is to: determine an acceptable planning model to be used as a reference, design a questionnaire from this reference model, and visit selected companies with the questionnaire to obtain data. From an analysis of the data, a judgment is made concerning how long-range planning is practiced by the companies visited. It was found that formal long-range planning is not as well established as one might conclude from the literature. Only two companies of the seven visited have employed long-range planning for longer than fifteen years. The planning of most of the companies fits the reference model; one major corporation's formal long-range plan does not. The difference is significant and is due to top management's concepts on formal planning. It is concluded that many companies are still attempting to determine how to best apply formal long-range planning.