H. Lon Addams

Business planning in successful small firms

Abstract Strategic planning has been widely publicized during the last decade, but what has been accomplished by this management activity in smaller, high-growth firms? Business plans have been widely recommended for start-up funding, but we have noted additional uses for business plans in pratice. This article reports methods and results of strategic planning and written business plans in high-growth ‘INC. 500’ firms. In spite of a variety of obstacles, over half of the firms conduct strategic planning on a regular basis. Results of this study show that fast-growth firms develop written business plans as a product of strategic planning, mainly by five key management personnel. Written business plans are used more for internal management purposes than for start-up funding. Finally, the completion of strategic planning is positively associated with a firms profitability. Based on survey and interview data, this article describes a four-phase model to help ensure effective integration of strategic planning processes and the resulting written business plans.

Service quality at banks and credit unions: what do their customers say?

Bank and credit union customers were surveyed to determine bank and credit union service quality performance. The results of our study indicate that credit unions rate significantly higher than banks on 11 of the 14 service quality questions: access; courtesy; communication; credibility; security; empathy; tangibles; basic service; fairness; fixing mistakes; and guarantees. The findings also indicate that neither banks nor credit unions do a good job of surveying customer needs or retaining customers. Other results indicate that 50 percent of total respondents surveyed reported that they had stopped using a financial service provider because of poor service performance. The vast majority of that group reported that their decision was made because a bank failed to provide adequate service.

Cost containment and customer retention practices at the top 100 commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions

Chief executive officers (CEOs) at America’s top 100 commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions were surveyed to determine the importance of cost containment and customer retention practices. The study explores differences that exist among the three types of financial institutions. The results of the survey indicate that commercial bank CEOs rate themselves higher than others in almost all areas of cost containment and customer service. Commercial bank and credit union CEOs gave highest priority to customer retention items. Principles for improving service quality and customer retention are discussed in detail.