Strategic and Operational Planning in Small Business: a study about its influence in technology-based enterprises of São Carlos

Abstract

The objective of this article is to report the results of a research that aims to determine the relation between the strategic and the operational planning and the performance achieved by the technology based small business in São Carlos - SP (Brazil). Moreover, another objective is to identify the planning formalization level of then. In the last years, the strategic planning has become a very important management tool, because it permits to the entrepreneur to analyze the market situation, and, through it, to lead the business to achieve the goals in the long time. Furthermore, the operational planning support the daily activities management, lining the organization with its strategic objectives. To the empiric datum collection, a survey was made with the small business managers of the technology based sector. The tool used to collect the datum was a questionnaire. Like a result of this project, it´s possible to say that both planning, strategic and operational, improved the small business performance. However, there are not conclusive results about the relation between the strategic planning sophistication (formalization) and the business performance.