Executives’ predisposition for planning in an emerging country environment

The paper presents findings from a European country setting, namely Greece. It focuses on two important organizational features: the chief executive officer and the planning activities adopted by Greek firms. The study attempts first, to describe and identify the CEO’s characteristics, opinions, and predisposition towards planning, and second, to illustrate the strategic planning process in Greece. The paper argues that country environments in transition may have a profound effect on executives’ predisposition into designing planning process. Although it was found that both CEOs and top management teams intensively participate in the planning process, which was perceived as highly formalized and sophisticated, the lack of advanced tools and techniques creates serious questions of whether planning is a valuable resource for the Greek companies or companies operating in other highly uncertain environments.