ABSTRACT
Since the 1960s strategic marketers and those in allied disciplines have dedicated a significant amount of time and effort to generating a better understanding of the complex issues which surround the development and implementation of strategic marketing planning. During this period, planning theory has evolved from what we used to call ‘long range planning’ to ‘strategic planning’ to the present ‘hybrid’ of strategic marketing planning. The results of scholarly interest have been twofold; first, the development of innumerable and increasingly sophisticated planning models and second, various analyses of the difficulties of implementation. However, despite this level of academic attention, studies of practice continually find that very few strategic marketing plans are actually implemented successfully (the most common statistic cited being that fewer than 15 per cent of plans are actually implemented – see Hoskin and Wood, 1993). Somehow our grand plans and carefully crafted strategies are being wasted.
