MULTI-OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING: A DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS APPROACH.

Abstract

Drawing on the relevant literature, this study develops seven key dimensions of planning systems, five reflecting their design aspects and two tapping the organizational context of planning. Discriminant analysis is employed to evaluate the ability of these seven dimensions to distinguish between more and less effective planning systems, using three different criteria of planning effectiveness. Although influences on effectiveness seem to vary depending on the criterion of effectiveness used, overall the most important dimensions were system capability, or a system's orientation toward creativity and control; resources provided for planning; and functional coverage.