Strategic Planning and Organisational Effectiveness in Jordanian Hotels

Abstract

The tourism sector in Jordan is the second largest private sector employer and the second highest producer of foreign exchange. This sector, however, has been affected by many external factors in the Middle East, such as wars, turmoil and, most recently, the Arab Spring. Given the changing environment in which these hotels are doing business, they require a high ability for adaptation in order to grow and compete. Despite this, little research has been undertaken in this area. This research, therefore, aims to identify and examine the characteristics of strategic planning systems in Jordanian hotels and their relationship with organizational effectiveness.In order to achieve this aim, a questionnaire is developed after reviewing the literature related to strategic planning and its effectiveness in both developed and emerging markets. The empirical research is undertaken via a survey of all four-and five-star hotels operating around Jordan's most popular tourist attractions: Amman, the Dead Sea, Petra and Aqaba. A total of 138 questionnaires were handed to the entire target population of 46 hotels. This questionnaire yielded an 80.4% per cent response rate.The main findings of this research are: the mean time horizon for strategic planning is 5.4 years; top management and boards of directors have less participation in strategic planning processes than outside consultants; internal scanning is used less frequently than external scanning; some important strategy analysis tools are used less frequently than traditional ones; and the areas of research and development and technology are rarely covered. However, strategic planning is found to be positively and significantly related to organisational effectiveness.

Difficulties and Challenges Facing Strategic Planning in Jordanian Municipalities; Applied Field Study from Managers Point Views

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Applications of Strategic Management Practices in Public Sector: Cases From Some Middle East Countries

“…On the other hand, other results showed that there is some interest in SM within the Jordanian private sector; vast majority of Jordanian scholars in SM were focused on the private sector to include, banking or financial services, communication firms, pharmacy industries, and hotels. These findings from Jordanian private sector revealed a fair use of SM tools within this sector, and they indicate a positive impact on their respective organizations performance (Aldehayyat& Anchor, 2008;Aldehayyat& Al Khattab, 2013;Aldehayyat& Twaissi, 2011;Al-Abdullat &Al-Najjar, 2015;Maryan, 2012;Dudin, 2013;khawaldah, 2014;Sharabati & Fuqaha, 2014).…”

Collaborative open strategic planning: a method and case study

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