Abstract:
This article clearly stipulates the Sri Lankan government's commitment
to undertake important steps to strengthen the country's SME sector.
Despite this, the Sri Lankan SMEs are yet to prove their sustainability.
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether strategic planning is
used by Sri Lankan SMEs and to identify the barriers to its
implementation. One of the main objectives in strategic management
research has been to find the answer to the questions of "why do some
organizations succeed while others fail?" and "what are the processes
that allow organizations to succeed in business?. Due to the exploratory
nature of this study, the mixed methods research approach is used.
Mixed methods combine both quantitative and qualitative research
techniques with their associated methods, approaches, languages or
concepts in a single study (Creswell et al. 2007). The primary data is
collected from a sample of selected 150 SMES and eight case studies.
The snowball sampling technique is used for the survey as there is no
commonly available, complete and reliable SME sector database in Sri
Lanka. The case studies are selected using purposive sampling method
based on the survey findings. The respondents are the owners or senior
managers responsible for long-term planning and decision making.
Findings reveal that out of 150 participants only 32 are using formal
strategic planning system. Both the survey and case study findings
indicate that lack of time and expertise of the management are the major
barriers to the implementation of strategic plans in Sri Lankan SMEs.
