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

Abstract

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. 2016 European Academy of Management.