A Dialectical Approach to Strategic Planning

This paper develops a new approach to the planning process. It begins by examining the critical role played by the planner's assumptions. Two criteria for a good planning technique are suggested by this examination: (1) It should expose the assumptions underlying a proposed plan so that management can reconsider them and (2) it should suggest new and more relevant assumptions upon which the planning process can proceed.

Existing techniques often fail these criteria. Consequently a dialectical approach is presented which, it is proposed, satisfies the stated criteria. The realm of corporate strategic planning was chosen as a testing ground for the new approach. Evidence obtained in a field study/experiment concerning RMK Abrasives' strategic planning problem is cited in support of the method and its ability to reveal assumptions.¹