CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There has been a popular maxim that says if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. It has been observed that many organizations have been failing in their operations due to lack of planning and strategic management. Planning involves deciding today what will happen in the future, planning precede all other managerial functions. When talking about strategy, it refers to the goals and objectives of a business organization. A strategic management provides all direction to the enterprise and involves the organization’s objectives, developing policies and plan designed to achieve these objectives and the allocating resources. It deals with the long term survival and existence of the business. This simply means that without thinking strategically and acting strategically, business may not be able to survive achieve its goals. Strategic planning is a managerial process of developing and maintaining a match between the resources of an organization and its market opportunities.

In the study of strategic management on the growth of small and medium scale business conducted Milider (2000) it was revealed that strategic management is not a set procedures for top managers not it is a specialized function for high level of staff but a set of skill and a way of thinking through the overall mission of a business that is asking the question, what is our business? This leads to decisions for tomorrow’s result. K. O. Donnel (2002) concluded that before any business can be strategize, it must be through planning. By this they said that basic need for planning in every business organization is to predict future event and equally prepare for unforeseen contingencies.

Generally however, managers and business owners are aware of the determining nature and effect of lack of planning and strategic management system of the present society and they work out modalities on how to manipulate planning and strategic management on their business so as to achieve their set goals and objectives of the organization.

Planning includes the process of forecasting, formulating policies, objectives, programming, scheduling, procedural and budget of activities and events which will enable the management in achieving the overall goal of an undertaking. T. Lucey (2006) says it is the establishment of objectives and the formulation, evaluation and selection of the policies, strategies lactic and action required to achieve these objectives. Planning comprises long term/strategic planning and short-term operational planning.

Basically, strategic management is a continuous process of strategic analysis, monitoring, used by organization with the energy of firm functional areas into one focused effort to achieve superior performance. It is usually done through many steps. In essence, it answers the following questions:

• What is the organization at the moment?
• What does it want to do?
• How will it get there?

Strategic management is not all about predicting the future but about preparing for it and knowing exact steps the company will have to take to implement its strategic plan and achieve a competitive advantage.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The high rate of business failure in Nigeria by managers and business owners has constituted a serious problem and has become a course for concern for most of them to think critically on how to boost their businesses and also to be able to survive in the competitive world of business. Inadequate planning and strategic management systems has been the cause for most business failure. Since planning and strategic management is seen as a sine-qua-non to every organization that seek to capture the lion share of the market, its limitation also need to be appreciate because it is ironically on the most criticized concept. The critics stem from the fact that the organization has failed to realized or take cognizance of the pivoted role of the planning and strategic management which of course is the growth of small and medium scale business in Akwa Ibom State. Most of the business organization who failed to apply planning and strategic system in their business cannot survive in the business environment.  

• OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this is to examine impact of planning and strategic management on the growth of small and medium scale business in Akwa Ibom State, specifically the study is conducted to achieve the following objectives:

• To critically examine why planning and strategic management is importance on the growth of small and medium scale business.
• To analyze managers attitude towards planning and strategic management system in an organization.
• To examine if there is any need for planning and strategic management system.
• To identify the role of managers in the formulation and implementation of strategic planning.
• To determine the relationship between planning and strategic management on the growth of small and medium scale business. 
  • RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In order to have a successful study, the following research questions were developed, as guide.

1. To what extent does inability to plan and strategize affect the growth of small and medium scale businesses?
2. Is true that planning and strategic management is indeed important on the growth of small and medium scale business?
3. Do managers perform their role of formulating and implementing strategic planning?
4. Does strategic planning the best tool in combating competitive emergency?
5. To what extent do inadequate planning and strategic management affect the business?
6. Does inability of managers to apply this system affect the business objectives? 
   • RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The following are the research hypothesis formulated to guide the study. The null hypotheses (Ho) and the alternative hypothesis (Hi) are stated thus:

• HO: There is no significant impact between planning and strategic management system on the growth of small and medium scale business.

HI:  There is significant impact between planning and strategic management system on the growth of small and medium scale business.

• HO: There is no impact of lack of planning and strategies to the backwardness of the organization’s business.

HI:  There is impact of lack of planning and strategies to the backwardness of the organization’s business  

• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work will help to inspire and liberate managers mind on conducting a proper planning and strategies that will help on the growth of small and medium scale business in Akwa Ibom State and with this, it will help to remedy the poor management of businesses by their owners and managers. This awareness therefore has encouraged the researcher to venture into the field with the hope that her findings and recommendations will be useful to business starters, management of already existing business to the researcher, to students and to the society at large.

1. To business starters, it will equip them with sound ideas, knowledge and tactics that can be applied to the business to help on the growth of business. And they will also see that theme is needed for proper planning and strategies the growth of small and medium scale enterprise.
2. This research work will be useful to the researcher and other students who may carry out a research on the similar or related topic as source of references. The study will provide necessary solution to whoever will have difficulties on planning and strategy.
3. Lastly, it is hope that if the contribution and recommendation advanced in this research are fully embrace wholesome managers will be produced for the benefit of the society and the nation in general. 
   • SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This research work aims at understanding planning and strategic management on the growth of small and medium scale business in Akwa Ibom State. The study is delimited to coca cola Bottling Company Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The company is situated at  No 298 Abak Road Opposite mechanic village,Uyo with other depots outside Uyo metropolis.

• LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

In the process of conducting this research, the researcher was faced with the following limitations;

• Time: It is a factor that could negatively affect and academic project such as the researcher had very few months to conduct, compile and summit the project. Also courses in the discipline’s curriculum completed for the researcher’s time and attention. This meant that the researcher had to work under hard pressed conditions which could have possible affected the report output.
• Finance: The relative scarcity or non availability of money to student researcher determines to a greater extent, the scope that could be covered in their studies. Thus inadequate financial support to student researchers greatly affected the scope of this study and the time for its submission.
• Materials: The poor research conditions prevailing in today’s Nigeria higher institution of learning and inadequate research materials like textbooks, journals and magazines hindered the smooth conduct and completion of the original thus, affected the original vision held by the researcher before going into the research.    
  • DEFINITION OF TERMS

Planning: This means the process of forecasting, formulating policies, objectives, programming, scheduling, procedural and budget of activities and events which will enable the management in achieving the overall goal of undertaking.