Exploring the rise and fall of strategic planning: is strategic planning still a useful management practice in the 21st century?

Purpose It is argued that “failure to plan is planning to fail,” in this regard, this study provides an understanding of the usefulness of strategic planning as a management practice in the 21st century. Insights on the key developments, challenges and opportunities associated with the practice of strategic planning was gained from identified publications over two decades (2001 to 2020). Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review on strategic planning was conducted, and relevant publications were identified from a Scopus search for the period 2001 to 2020. The identified publications contained “strategic planning” in the article title. The search result produced 341 publications after limiting the publications to “articles,” “reviews” and “conference presentations” only. The top 20 publications with the highest citations from each of the two decades were further analyzed using content analysis to gain insight from their research findings. Findings The review established that strategic planning is still a useful management practice in the 21st century. However, despite the benefits associated with the practice of strategic planning, there are constraints that affect the adoption of strategic planning primarily due the barriers associated with the implementation of the developed strategies and/or strategic plans as well as the lack of knowhow to practice formal strategic planning. Originality/value The review contributes to the body of knowledge by providing (i) an understanding of the key strategic planning developments, challenges and opportunities identified from the two decades; (ii) benefits of practicing strategic planning and address challenges associated with - the VUCA world - organizations now operate in; (iii) a history of the development of strategic planning; and (iv) factors associated with the practice of strategic planning thus bridging the gap between theory and practice.