Top Team, Environment, and Performance Effects on Strategic Planning Formality

This study examined hypotheses linking three categories of variables, top management team demography, environmental uncertainty, and firm performance, to the extent to which retail banks engage in a formal strategic planning process. The specific variables studied included: mean tenure, mean age, mean education level, functional background heterogeneity, and education major heterogeneity under team demography; environmental complexity and instability under environmental uncertainty; and performance level and volatility under firm performance. Results show that low tenure mean, functional heterogeneity, environmental complexity, and performance volatlity all had positive effects on strategic planning formality.