The Impact of Strategic Planning on Achieving Competitive Advantage in Palestinian Insurance Companies رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

This survey-based research aims to investigate the extent of the implementation of strategic planning process in Palestinian insurance companies, in addition to investigate the relationship between strategic planning process and its impact on competitive advantage within Palestinian insurance companies listed on the Palestine Stock Exchange (PEX), particularly in West Bank. It assesses the attitudes to and perceptions of top and middle management in those firms towards strategic planning, to examine the level of adoption and application of strategic planning regarding (environmental analysis, goals, mission, vision, strategic alternatives, strategy implementation) and determine the level of competitive advantage in terms of (cost, quality, flexibility, and delivery). It also presents a framework for deducting the correlation between strategic planning and Insurance companies’ competitive advantage. A descriptive analytical approach was adopted, and primary data were collected through an online (digital) questionnaire prepared for this purpose, which was verified through arbitration by a group of academic arbitrators, limited to (5) arbitrators. The Population of the study consisted of all employees in the senior and middle management (279 individuals) working in the Palestinian insurance firms registered in the PEX, limited to (8) insurance firms in the year 2022, where the study adopted the convenience sampling method to identify the study sample. In total, (121) online questionaries were filled from (8) insurance firms representing 80% of the insurance sector in Palestine. The findings indicated a high impact of strategic planning processes on competitive advantage in Palestinian insurance firms, in addition to a statistically significant impact at the level of significance (0.05 α≤) of the application of strategic planning in terms of (vision, mission, environmental analysis, goals, strategic alternatives, and strategy implementation) on the competitive advantage of insurance companies listed on the Palestine exchange. This support findings from other studies covering different firms operating in various services industries. The study suggests that systematic strategic planning is required as a VI comprehensive framework for implementation, control, and evaluation of strategy formulation, selection, and implementation for SME owners in Palestine, and for responsible business bodies such as capital market authority and ministry of national economy to actively promote it.