Strategic planning for small businesses with a focus on social systems: a case study at Pensu Exactu

Abstract

This dissertation examines how strategic planning becomes effective in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) when enacted as a socially embedded process. Specifically, it analyzes how organizational social systems, such as communication, participation, cultural alignment, leadership proximity, and constructive conflict, shape the implementation and outcomes of strategic planning. Grounded in recent literature (2021–2025), the study proposes a hybrid strategic planning framework and evaluates it through an iterative, multi-case design within the metrology and technical services sector. A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining surveys, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis to operationalize and assess social-system constructs and their role in sensemaking, commitment, routinization, and organizational performance. Findings indicate that SMEs achieve higher levels of resilience, innovation, and legitimacy when strategic planning is enacted through participatory and communicative routines, particularly under increasing ESG and regulatory pressures. The study contributes by: (i) integrating social-system variables into strategic planning in a measurable and structured manner; (ii) adopting an evolutionary validation design with explicit refinement criteria; and (iii) providing a practical and replicable protocol for application in technical-service SMEs.