Why do Entrepreneurial Firms Engage in Planning?

Existing research has long questioned the effectiveness of strategic planning, business planning, and technology planning. However, many entrepreneurial firms continue to actively engage in mediumto long-term planning. Addressing this gap between theory and practice, this study seeks to uncover the reasons why firms engage in planning. To accomplish this, we conducted an inductive content analysis of 578 proposals that describes the purposes of roadmapping workshops held between 2002 and 2018 by IfM Engage, a technology and knowledge transfer organization affiliated with the University of Cambridge. Our findings reveal that firms engage in planning for the following reasons: (1) setting strategic direction, (2) exploring innovation opportunities, (3) analyzing the industry environment, (4) managing stakeholder collaboration, (5) allocating resources efficiently, (6) strengthening organizational capabilities, and (7) responding to environmental changes and managing crises. These findings offer theoretical implications for research in strategic and business planning within the fields of entrepreneurship and management, as well as for roadmapping research in technology management.