An Analysis of the Comprehensive Implementation of Strategic Plans in Emerging Economies: The United Arab Emirates as a Case Study

• Date: 01 June 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12068
• Published date: 01 June 2016

An Analysis of the Comprehensive

Implementation of Strategic Plans in

Emerging Economies: The United Arab

Emirates as a Case Study

Said Elbanna and Yasir Fadol

College of Business and Economics, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

Despite the potentially important impact of strategy implementation on organizational performance, relatively

little has been discovered so far about its antecedents and consequences. This study aims to help fill this gap by

exploring the antecedents and consequences of the comprehensiveness of strategic plan implementation. Out of

500 questionnaires, 231 usable ones were collected from United Arab Emirates (UAE) public organizations. We

find that our three factors of strategy formulation, namely, adoption of intended mode of strategy, enhancing

employees’ participation, and minimizing political behavior significantly influence the comprehensiveness of

strategic plan implementation, which in turn has a significant positive impact on the effectiveness of strategic

planning. We discuss our empirical results, the potential influence of culture, implications for both theory and

practice, the limitations of the research and several avenues for future study.

Keywords: comprehensiveness; implementation of strategic plan; strategic planning; effectiveness of strategic

planning; United Arab Emirates

Introduction

Although strategy implementation is widely perceived to

be a significant determinant of organizational perfor-

mance, several studies argue for the paucity of research

into the factors which affect the successful implementa-

tion of strategy. For example, Andrews et al. (2011)

claim that authors in the field of strategy have acknowl-

edged the lack of empirical research linking the process

of strategy implementation to organizational perfor-

mance. Similarly, fewstudies of strategic planning in the

Arab Middle East have been conducted (Elbanna, 2012)

and the results are less clear in relation to strategy imple-

mentation than in relation to formulation (Aldehayyat

and Anchor, 2010).

Strategy implementation is a multifaceted and

complex process which can be defined as ‘the communi-

cation, interpretation, adoption and enactment of stra-

tegic plans’ (Noble, 1999: 120). Similar to the literature

on strategy formulation (Fredrickson, 1984; Elbanna,

2006), that on strategy implementation suggests that

there is a range of possible models to choose from

(Bourgeois and Brodwin, 1984), at one end of the spec-

trum being a rational/formal model and at the other a

purely incremental one (Andrews et al., 2011). For the

purpose of this study,we use the term comprehensiveness

of the strategic plan implementation, which is defined as

‘the extent to which an organization attempts to be

exhaustive or inclusivein implementing its strategic plan

by carrying out all the activities and taking all the actions

required for its effective execution.’ Considering the

seminal work of Fredrickson (1984), comprehensiveness

can be considered as something denoting a measure of

rationality in implementing strategic plans. The multifac-

eted nature of this term makes it particularly valuable for

understanding the implementation process of a strategic

plan and its impact on organizational outcomes. As such,

the comprehensiveness of the strategic plan implementa-

tion can enable an organization to improve its perfor-

mance outcomes, including the effectiveness of its

strategic planning.

Johnson (2004) argues that there is a strategy-to-

performance gap and claims that 66% of corporate

strategy is never implemented. This suggests that the

problem lies somewhere in the process of strategy for-

mulation and/or strategy implementation (Crittenden

Correspondence: Said Elbanna, College of Business and Economics,

Qatar University, P. O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Tel: +974 7401 8562.

E-mail: selbanna@qu.edu.qa

DOI: 10.1111/emre.12068

© 2016 European Academy of Management

European Management Review, Vol. 13, – (201 )

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