A literature analysis of the use of Management Science tools in Strategic Planning

A literature analysis was conducted to examine the application of Management Science (MS) tools in Strategic Planning. The 766 abstracts were classified into a series of strategic categories to identify their contribution to specific phases of the Strategic Planning process. A functional classification was used to indicate the key issue or type of problem involved. Industry, publication date, and publication source were also considered. To identify potential application areas for the MS tools, beyond those found in this sample, a gap analysis was performed using Reisman’s methodology for finding researchable topics.