Abstract:
This paper arose out of my previous work "The Role of the Board
of Directors in Ensuring the Involvement of key influence
figures in Strategic Management")The motivation remained one
of how to implement the process of Strategic Management at
the most senior levels of major Public Companies. The technology
is well documented, the buzz words have slipped easily into
Chairmans' reports and my previous research indicated an
almost total acceptance of the philosophy of Strategic Management
by the directors of New Zealand's ten largest Public Companies.
This current research was designed to determine if a gap
existed between the theory as accepted by the directors and
the practice in the companies they controlled. However, what
was being measured was still the directors own perceptions
of the degree of their involvement in Strategic Management.
In an attempt to balance this, identical questionnaires were
sent to each Company Secretary and the senior executive
responsible for planning. I also had serious doubts whether
the respondants ascribed the same meaning to the terminology
of Strategic Management as the academic writers and I therefore
interviewed two of the Chairmen to attempt to measure their
depth of understanding of the Strategic Management process.
This was an extremely valuable input to my understanding and
also provided essential insights into the practical functionings
of the board room.
