Vancil

BoingBoing reader Lloyd Vancil says, The action figure is still out there.

Boing Boing: October 17, 2004 - October 23, 2004 Archives 2004

To repeat the Lorange and Vancil quotation from earlier in our discussion:

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

At the same level of logic are Lorange and Vancil, who, after estimating the “decimation” or “elimination” of between a quarter and a third of corporate planning departments during the 1970-71 recession, concluded that “the survivors knew that they had ‘arrived’—that the planning activity had been carefully reexamined and found to earn its keep” 1977:xi.

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

In this regard, we cannot resist the temptation to quote Lorange and Vancil about formal planning as a means of catering to the objective of improving strategy making:

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

Thus, in an article entitled “The Accuracy of Long Range Planning,” Vancil reported on 16 companies whose five-year forecasts of 1964 “turned out to be only 84 percent of the volume actually generated in 1969” 1983:308.

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

In this regard, we cannot resist the temptation to quote Lorange and Vancil about formal planning as a means of catering to the objective of improving strategy making:

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

Thus, in an article entitled “The Accuracy of Long Range Planning,” Vancil reported on 16 companies whose five-year forecasts of 1964 “turned out to be only 84 percent of the volume actually generated in 1969” 1983:308.

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

It forced the chief executive to attempt to change his own behavior in a way that he knew was desirable Lorange and Vancil, 1977:x.

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

At the same level of logic are Lorange and Vancil, who, after estimating the “decimation” or “elimination” of between a quarter and a third of corporate planning departments during the 1970-71 recession, concluded that “the survivors knew that they had ‘arrived’—that the planning activity had been carefully reexamined and found to earn its keep” 1977:xi.

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994

Even if it were true that planning focuses “on the right set of issues,” as claimed by two well-known writers in the field Lorange and Vancil: 1977:x, again without supporting evidence, could we be sure that it focuses on them in the right way?

The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning HENRY MINTZBERG 1994