Tóm tắt
Since the turn of the century management researchers, among others, have exhorted business firms to plan for their future. To us it seems obvious that the greater a firm's commitment to long‐range planning, the greater are its chances for survival and success. Most managers and executives “know” that this is so — they do not have to perform lengthy and costly research on planning to support so obvious a truism. Nonetheless, we did a research study of long‐range planning in the motor freight industry to find out whether long‐range planning is a necessity for every company in the industry. It also asks if there is a boundary condition that differentiates between those companies that must plan continually, plan occasionally, or not engage in long‐range planning at all. If there is such a boundary, what variables go into making it up? Are the variables controllable or uncontrollable? Can a model be devised that incorporates these variables? The answers to these questions can point the industry toward more efficient and effective use of its scarce resources.
