The Impact of Domestic Culture on the Effectiveness of Strategic Planning in Palestine رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

Strategic planning is considered by all kind of organizations, being public or private as an effective scheme, which allows these organizations to flourish and stay competitive. In the latest decades, these management practices gained enormous momentum in developing countries, as is in developed countries, and they indeed become common practice. However, practicing strategic planning does not always lead to the same level of success among organizations, and even among different countries. Various reasons might influence the level of success and effectiveness of the strategic planning practices. We believe that prevailing culture, common beliefs and attitudes, contribute to explaining some of these differences in strategic planning effectiveness. As is raveled by the extensive literature review that was conducted throughout this study, we did not come across studies that dealt with this issue so far. This is one reason why we decided to conduct this study. This research was conducted between Feb. 2017 and Feb. 2018 in Palestine, and aimed at investigating the impact of domestic cultural on the effectiveness of strategic planning in multi-sector organizations. The method applied in this research focused on using a well prepared questionnaire which included the needed variables and constructs that allowed to examine the case. Staff employed at governmental, NGOs and private sector institutions were targeted by this study. Special attention was given to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, which allowed us to measure culture and to quantify its effect on strategic planning efficiency. Data were collected from 121 questionnaire distributed on 34 different organization, while sample covered private, public and NGO sectors. Collected data were encoded, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS data analysis tools. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyze and quantify VI the impact of cultural dimensions on the effectiveness of strategic planning among Palestinian organizations. In relation to Palestinian culture, Data analyzes revealed that Palestinians are high in collectivism, somehow moderate in uncertainty avoidance and power distance, while they are moderate in masculinity. When tested by SEM and integrated in the used theoretical model, these cultural dimensions, succeeded in explaining approximately 78% of strategic planning effectiveness. The research also succeeded in analyzing the extent each cultural dimension contributes to strategic planning effectiveness. The findings contributed to raising managerial awareness of domestic cultural aspects within workplaces in various sectors. It indicated that domestic culture dimensions are present in Palestine and how they affect strategic planning effectiveness. These findings and results are expected to assist politicians, managers and planners to increase strategic planning effectiveness by eliminating obstacles against effective strategies in the future accordingly. Results can contribute to effective development plans on the short and long-term levels.