Strategic Planning in Small Business in India - Ashoka Industries: A Case Study

Abstract

With increase worldwide competition and rapidly changing global market demands, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will face continuous challenges. Given the size and structure of existing SSI in India, it is highly doubtful whether they will be able to withstand the competition from the MNCs and TNCs from other countries. They have so far been protected under the umbrella or reservation, concessions, subsidies, incentives, etc. The safety net may be dismantled by 2005 as India had already signed with WTO, which is the only body at the global level to define the rules of trade. As such these enterprises have to depend on a new kind of organizational structures and strategies in order to meet this market demand. A Strategically oriented small firm can meet the competitive forces successfully. Since the WTO, globalisation, liberalization, foreign investment etc. are recent phenomena, not much research has been done on the aspects of SSI in the globalisation era. This study attempts to examine the nature of strategic planning process and its application in small business. To be very specific, what are the challenges that would be faced by SSIs and how would they be faced by SSIs in India.