Managing the planning process: A field study of the human side of planning

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of an empirical field study of human behaviour in the context of planning. The investigation centres on ‘behavioural problems’ encountered by managers of strategic planning systems. Two general issues are addressed. The first concerns the frequency of occurrence of these problems among managers and their impact on the effectiveness of the planning process. The second issue pertains to whether the constellation of behavioural problems managers confront varies in accordance with the role of the manager in the planning system. Implications of the findings for practitioners and researchers are discussed.