Time: The hidden dimension in strategic planning

Abstract

Recent research indicates that business executives differ in their orientation toward the future, and that these orientations are associated with individual preferences for different corporate planning horizons. However, very little is known about the process of setting planning horizons and its interrelationship with the setting of corporate objectives. Such conditions thus call for a study of the temporal aspects of strategic management. Toward that end, this article discusses (a) the role of individual future orientations of corporate executives in setting planning horizons, (b) the case for considering planning horizons as a means in the traditional goal-means complex, and (c) the idea of planning horizons as unacknowledged negotiating currency in the politics of strategic decision making.