An assessment of the planning process in the major Lebanese banks. (c1995)

Abstract

The last decade of the 20th century is a real witness to the worldwide expansion of technological breakthrough as well as to fierce competition among companies striving for survival. Organizations facing this challenge will not achieve continuity and success unless they plan and maintain a high level of planning. This research on the assessment of the planning process in the Lebanese Banking Sector is elaborated for two main reasons. First, because this sector is considered as one of the pillars in building the Lebanese economy. Second, Lebanon is not an industrial power in the region, on the contrary, it is the level of services delivered in various Lebanese sectors that constitutes a competitive advantage for Lebanon in the Middle East. Particularly, the Lebanese Banking sector occupies a major and an advanced rank in structuring the economy of the country at large. The aim for this research is to emphasize the importance of planning based on analyzing the correlation or the effect of planning on the banks' growth, profitability, market share, image and reputation. A part of this research has been addressed to the study of the effect of planning on the banks' employees and customer satisfaction. For this purpose a survey research has been conducted using two main sources: A questionnaire was addressed to employees of various occupational levels in ten major Lebanese banks. Besides, several references were used to complete this research. Throughout the study, it has been noticed that the need for planning is dominant for the competition spirit is prevailing among banks. The respondents were aware of this need due to their belief that forecasts and analysis of the internal and external environments of the bank are the backbone for planning. Moreover, each department of the bank develops its own strategy that helps in one way or another the formulation of the overall strategy. On the other hand, planning has been considered as an inevitable issue of management that could help effectively in achieving higher profitability, wider market share, better image and reputation, and a satisfactory level of services rendered to customers, as well as improved levels of employees' performance and satisfaction due to the banks' management motivation and incentives. In fact, to satisfy the need lying behind this research, it is recommended that plans in the banks should have been analyzed, specifically they should have alternative contingent plans for extraordinary situations. Moreover, they should be evaluated at all levels of the bank and the key factor in this process is the formulation of written plans where the level of commitment for employees at all levels would be enhanced. It is also recommended that seminars should always be held, where an illustration of the role and need for planning constitutes a substantial part of the lectures. Moreover, performance appraisal for employees at all occupational levels should be based upon the extent to which they succeed in executing the predetermined plans. Finally, it is obvious that the era of chaotic systems in banking should have perished and a new period of highly organized systems should prevail because those facing the first option have a lot to do merely to survive, let alone to grow.