A STUDY OF PLANNING FOR EXPORT OPERATIONS

The paper focuses on an area where little research has been undertaken, namely export planning activity. Using a definition of planning as a one‐cycle process, attention is focused on the propensity of a sample of forest products exporters to undertake certain planning activities and on differences between planners and non‐planners. It was found that exporting was generally unplanned in the survey firms, and that the propensity to plan increased with size and the relative significance of export sales. Other variables, such as management commitment to exporting and the establishment of some export structure, also appeared to play a major role in accounting for planning activity.