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Strategic Planning and Management in Transit Agencies (2005)

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4OVERVIEW The literature review revealed that strategic planning is a popular and widespread practice in both the private and pub- lic sectors. It is a leadership and management tool that has been successfully used for decades to help organizations bet- ter prepare for the future and improve long-term performance. There is increased recognition that strategic planning is not enough by itself and that too many good strategic plans have been left to gather dust. Effective leadership is required to both develop and implement strategic plans. This has led to the concept of “strategic management,” which includes the implementation and ongoing management of strategic plans, not just their development. Another trend has been to make the strategic planning process briefer and more flexible. Part of the problem in the past has been that formal and elaborate planning processes have often led to the development of comprehensive and thor- ough plans that are out of date by the time they are produced. Today’s more turbulent and uncertain times require that less emphasis be given to the form of the plan and more to the substance and timeliness of the results. Henry Mintzberg has suggested that strategic planning is quite different than “strategic thinking,” the creative synthe- sis of visionary new business strategies. He goes further by suggesting that strategic planning, essentially analytical in nature, may even be antithetical to strategic thinking. He believes that strategic planning is more appropriately thought of as “strategic programming.” As such, it may be quite suit- able for relatively stable public transportation systems. Although it began in the military, the early nonmilitary use of strategic planning was primarily in the private sector. How- ever, its use in the public and nonprofit sectors has increased substantially and there are now several good sources of infor- mation on performing strategic planning in these sectors. Sev- eral reports and articles that pertain specifically to public- sector transportation are also reviewed. Effective strategic planning and management requires not only deciding what an organization should do, but also its having the knowledge and skills required to do it. With this in mind, the tools of organization development are discussed as a factor that could increase an organization’s capability to develop and implement strategic plans. This includes devel- oping and retaining a workforce with the requisite knowledge and skills. Finally, a recent TCRP study about “emerging new para- digms” in transit has suggested that fundamental changes will be required if transit is to succeed in a world of increasing social, economic, political, and technological change. If so, it could well be that strategic planning and management will be a crucial tool toward this end. INTRODUCTION As would be expected, there is a significant amount of liter- ature on the subject of strategic planning in general, particu- larly in the private sector. There is also a fair amount written on strategic planning in the public and nonprofit sectors. How- ever, much less has been written specifically about strategic planning in public transportation. This literature review will be selective rather than exhaus- tive. It will cover strategic planning in the private sector; how- ever, it will primarily focus on strategic planning in the public sector and in public transportation. HISTORY Strategic planning has a long history in organizations. Its ori- gins are often thought to have been in the military, where there was a need to develop comprehensive, long-term strate- gies to win a war as opposed to the shorter-term, more limited tactical planning needed to win battles or skirmishes. An early form of strategic planning, the SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), came out of the Har- vard Business School in the 1950s as part of their efforts in regard to business policy development and the analysis of business strategies in relation to an organization’s internal and external environments. The practice of strategic planning achieved considerable popularity in private-sector organizations in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, it became more and more prevalent in the public and nonprofit sectors. Unlike other management fads that have quickly disappeared, strategic planning is a management technique or practice that has demonstrated staying power and broad usage across a variety of organiza- tions in both the private and public sectors. STRATEGIC PLANNING IN GENERAL Early on, strategic planning was a relatively formal, elabo- rate, and often lengthy process. In addition, because times CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

5were more stable, a strategic plan was intended to last for several years. More recently, largely in response to these more rapidly changing and turbulent times, there has been a clear trend in the private sector to • Shorten the strategic planning cycle so that the plan is not out of date by the time it is finished. (However, it should also be noted that there has been a countervail- ing trend to open up the process and involve as many participants as feasible, rather than having it be a “top- down” plan developed largely by top management and imposed on the organization. The effect of this has been to lengthen the process.) • Make the planning process less formal and more flexible. • Make the process relatively continuous rather than some- thing undertaken only every 2 to 5 years. • Link it to other important business processes such as budgeting and performance measurement. An example of this is found in Strategic Readiness: The Making of the Learning Organization (1) in which the authors suggest a shift from strategic planning to strategic learning through a regular process of • Continuous planning—wherein the organization focuses on questioning and quickly adjusting existing plans; • Improvised implementation—that is, both experimental and evolving, and that provides good information for learning; and • Deep reflection about original assumptions—what has changed and what has been learned. The authors maintain that “most organizational change results not from formal plans and fixed programs for change but from a process of learning—and not just from the learning of indi- viduals but, more importantly, from the collective learning of entire organizations” (1, p. xi). The 1994 publication of The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by Mintzberg (2) presented a very comprehensive, complex, and contrarian view of the practice of strategic plan- ning. His central argument is that strategic planning by its very nature is the antithesis of “strategic thinking.” He views strategic thinking as a creative act of synthesis, and strategic planning as a process that is essentially one of analysis. (An analogy might be right brain versus left brain thinking, in which the right brain is considered to be more creative and holistic and the left brain is considered to be more linear and logical.) Mintzberg believes that “strategic planning often spoils strategic thinking, causing managers to confuse real vision with the manipulation of numbers” (3, p. 107). Mintzberg goes on to argue that “Strategic planning, as it has been practiced, has really been strategic programming, the articulation and elaboration of strategies, or visions, that already exist” (3, p. 107). He asserts that strategic planning does not fail because of such commonly mentioned pitfalls as a lack of commitment from top management or resistance to change, but instead because of its fundamental nature of being too analytical, too formalized, and too detached from the functions and interests of the business’s line managers. In spite of his belief that strategic planning is not effective at creating business strategies (strategic thinking), he believes that it can play important roles including: • Strategic planning as strategic programming—Instead of trying to use strategic planning to generate strategies or visions, use it to program them. This can be done through a process of “codification” (expressing the strate- gies in ways that are clear and operational), by “elab- oration” (breaking strategies down into substrategies and action plans), and “conversion” (identifying the impacts of the strategies on operations; e.g., on budgets and performance controls). • Strategic plans as tools to communicate and control— Plans can be an important way of communicating the organization’s intentions both internally (helping to ensure that everyone in the organization is pulling in the same direction) and externally. • Strategic planners as analysts—Planners can use their analytical skills and orientation by performing special studies and by offering new perspectives. • Strategic planners as catalysts—In this role, planners do not try to enter the “black box” of strategy making, but instead encourage and assist line managers to think in creative ways about the future (3, pp. 112–114). In Mintzberg’s words, “Planners shouldn’t create strategies, but they can supply data, help managers think strategically, and program the vision” (3, p. 107). Although insightful, Mintzberg’s distinction between strategic thinking and strategic planning may be more rele- vant to the private sector, where the environment tends to be more volatile and where businesses must constantly be on the lookout for new business strategies and opportunities. Gen- erally, in the public sector, and in public transportation more specifically, the situation is usually more constrained. For example, the purpose and geographic jurisdiction of public transportation agencies is usually prescribed by state legisla- tion. For the most part, public transportation agencies are not going to be pursuing business opportunities outside of the area of public transportation. In addition, their financial struc- ture is often defined or controlled in large part by their enabling legislation or funding bodies. It might therefore be argued that strategic planning, when thought of as strategic programming as described by Mintzberg, may be the primary role it should play in public transportation. Mintzberg implies this when he states that “Only when an organization is sure of the relative stability of

its environment and is in need of the tight coordination of a myriad of intricate operations (as is typically the case of air- lines with their needs for complicated scheduling), does such strategic programming make sense” (3, p. 112). The more creative strategic thinking described by Mintzberg might be used only infrequently, when there is a need for more trans- formative organizational or institutional change. Another valuable perspective on strategic planning, that appeared in the mid-1990s, was the concept of the “balanced scorecard,” as developed by Kaplan and Norton in response to their belief that strategic planning and management as practiced in the private sector gave too much weight to financial matters (4). To remedy this, they developed the balanced scorecard idea, an approach that provides a frame- work for helping an organization achieve its long-term strate- gic goals by viewing the organization from four key per- spectives: (1) the customer, (2) internal business processes, (3) learning and growth, and (4) financial performance. The balanced scorecard system involves the development, utilization, and analysis of performance metrics that are devel- oped for each of these perspectives. STRATEGIC PLANNING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR One of the “bibles” of strategic planning in the public (and nonprofit) sector has been John Bryson’s Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strength- ening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement (5). This book was first published in 1988, and then substantially revised in 1995. Bryson defines strategic planning as “a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it” (5, pp. 4–5). He offers a generic strategic planning model that has been successfully used by many public and nonprofit agencies. This model consists of 10 steps that he refers to as the Strategy Change Cycle (5, p. 23): 1. Initiate and agree on a strategic planning process (including who should be involved, and their roles and responsibilities). 2. Identify organizational mandates (e.g., enabling legislation). 3. Clarify organizational mission and values (this step should include an analysis of key “stakeholders”). 4. Assess the organization’s external and internal envi- ronments to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportu- nities, and threats (SWOT analysis). 5. Identify the strategic issues facing the organization. 6. Formulate strategies to manage these issues. 7. Review and adopt the strategic plan or plans. 8. Establish an effective organizational vision. 9. Develop an effective implementation process. 10. Reassess strategies and the strategic planning process. 6 Note that Steps 1–8 focus primarily on the planning process, whereas Steps 9 and 10 shift the emphasis from strategic planning to strategic management. There are some lessons to be learned in the revisions the author made to the book in 1995. For example, Steps 7, 9, and 10 were added, reflecting the need to not just produce a plan but to effectively implement it, and also to reassess the planning process as a prelude to another round of planning. The emphasis is on strategic management, not just strategic planning. In addition, the author places more emphasis on the recognition that strategic planning is different than strategic thought and action (a point strongly made by Mintzberg and noted previously). In summary, the 1995 edition makes a more explicit linkage between leadership, strategic planning, and management. Bryson is clearly a strong believer in the benefits of strate- gic planning, including the promotion of strategic thought and action, improved decision making, and enhanced orga- nizational responsiveness and performance (5, p. 7). However, he also recognizes that strategic planning has limitations and should not be considered a panacea for all organizational problems or situations. For example, strategic planning is most likely not an appropriate response to extreme adverse circumstances; if the organization does not have the necessary people, skills, or management commitment to pro- duce a good plan; or if the likelihood of plan implementation is low. Bryson believes that strategic planning is here to stay because it effectively deals with substantive issues and con- cerns as well as the reality of political decision making. In 1993, the U.S. Congress passed the Government Per- formance and Results Act (GPRA). This act requires that federal agencies take a number of steps to operate in a more businesslike manner and that they become more accountable to taxpayers. These steps require agencies to • Define their missions and desired outcomes, use strate- gic planning, involve their stakeholders, assess their environments, and align their activities, core processes, and resources in support of mission-related outcomes; • Measure their performance to ensure that goals are being met; and • Use the performance data to improve organizational processes, identify performance gaps, and set improve- ment goals. Under the GPRA, agencies were instructed to develop mul- tiyear strategic plans, annual performance plans, and annual performance reports. As a result, in 1996, the FTA published its first strategic plan, covering the period from 1997 to 2001. An executive guide for implementing the GPRA, pub- lished by the Government Accounting Office, pointed out that

7the success of the GPRA “depends on strong leadership prac- tices that devolve decision-making authority with account- ability, create incentives, build expertise, and integrate man- agement reforms” (6). STRATEGIC PLANNING IN PUBLIC-SECTOR TRANSPORTATION In the mid-1980s, the University Research and Training Program of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) (currently the FTA) funded a project that examined strategic planning in small- and medium-size transit agen- cies (7). The study report included a discussion of strategic planning and its benefits, a survey of 104 transit agencies, and a case study of a small transit system in Missouri (South- east Missouri Transportation Services, Inc.). The author observed that the crux of strategic planning is to create a process that answers three basic questions (7, p. 5): 1. Where are we? 2. Where do we want to go? 3. How can we get there? In the survey of transit properties, the following percent- ages of respondents answered that they conduct a formal strategic planning process: • Small systems (fewer than 50 vehicles) 42% • Medium systems (50–99 vehicles) 68% • Big systems (100–500 vehicles) 62% • Large systems (more than 500 vehicles) 93% The average for the four sizes was 59%. However, when responses were analyzed more closely, it was noted that more than half (57%) were actually referring to long-range service and capital plans as required by the fed- eral UMTA, short-range service plans, or to the annual bud- geting process. In short, there appeared to be a great deal of confusion as to what actually constitutes strategic planning. The study identified the following managerial tools used by transit agencies that might become part of a strategic plan- ning process: • Strategic-type special studies (e.g., performance audits), • Performance indicators, • Management by objectives, and • Strategy retreats. It found that there were a number of obstacles to con- ducting strategic planning in agencies, and that these obsta- cles differed according to the size of the agency. For exam- ple, inadequate staff resources was regarded as a significant obstacle by small agencies, but much less so by large ones. Conversely, a lack of good information was regarded as a serious problem by large agencies, but not so serious by small agencies. Large agencies cited the “fish-bowl” envi- ronment of public agencies as a problem and also changing state policies. Other obstacles cited by respondents included: • Operating pressures, • A short-term orientation inside and outside the agency (“fire-fighting”), • The annual budget process, and • An inability to enter new markets or alter the agency’s external environment. The study also found that small agencies in particular have difficulty in regard to strategic planning. In general, these dif- ficulties had to do with inadequate resources, including staff, expertise, data, and the money needed to hire outside exper- tise. Three key conclusions emerged from the study: 1. The need to reinterpret the concept of strategic planning. 2. The importance of organizational readiness. 3. The need to mold strategic planning to the specific context of the organization. In regard to the need to reinterpret the concept of strate- gic planning, the study noted that conducting a comprehen- sive and formal strategic planning process (the “classical” strategic planning model) may be beyond the capability of most transit agencies. Moreover, it may be more than is nec- essary. Five strategies are suggested in regard to this issue: 1. The formality of the process needs to be de-emphasized. 2. The level of data and analysis should be kept in rea- sonable relationship to the capabilities of the agency. 3. The cost of the process should be kept in some reason- able relationship with the likely benefits. 4. There needs to be a better understanding that long- range planning is not the same as strategic planning. Long-range planning may be necessary and useful; how- ever, it does not fulfill the same purposes. 5. Strategic planning might best be performed by seg- menting it. Rather than implementing a single, rigid process, it might be more effective if it is kept more flex- ible and if it uses various tools for specific purposes (e.g., special strategic studies). The second conclusion was the importance of organiza- tional readiness; some organizations may just not be ready to undertake strategic planning. Key factors in whether an orga- nization is ready include organizational sophistication and stamina, the flexibility and commitment of management, and the skills and expertise of the participants. Finally, in regard to adapting strategic planning to the orga- nizational context, management is encouraged to be realistic about the capabilities of the agency, set priorities and clearly define objectives for the process, design a process that reflects

these considerations, and build on what already exists in the agency. In 1985, an article was published about a case study of the development of a strategic management process in the Penn- sylvania Department of Transportation (8). This study made clear the importance of not just developing a strategic plan but of also creating a management process to implement and man- age the plan. There were several factors that distinguished this effort from typical strategic planning processes at the time. For example, several key structural changes were made. A strategic management committee made up of the agency’s six top managers was formed to direct and manage the change process. Seven substantive subcommittees were also formed to help manage the effort. Organization-wide planning was centralized and program and project planning were decentral- ized. A concept of “business groups” was used to create a new way of thinking about the primary products and services pro- vided by the agency (as opposed to the more traditional way of thinking about the functions performed). Four-year plans were developed for each of the agency’s operating districts. Finally, the strategic planning process was tightly linked to the budget process to ensure that the agency’s resources were being aligned with the plans. All of these actions served to institutionalize the strategic planning process throughout the agency. In 1988, the same year that Bryson published his book on strategic planning in the public sector, the UMTA published A Guide to Strategic Planning for Transit Properties (9). Considered by some in the transit industry to be a classic text, this report provided an early guide or framework for strate- gic planning in transit. The authors define strategic planning as “the analysis of environmental change, the formulation of organizational objectives, and the establishment of priorities for resource allocation” (9, p. 1). The report goes on to describe why it is important to do strategic planning, and presents several case studies as examples of how to do it effectively. (The case studies were Alameda–Contra Costa Transit, NJ Transit, Port Authority of Allegheny County Transit, Seattle Metro, and the Utah Transit Authority.) In addition, the report discusses the following key differences between planning in the public and private sectors (9, pp. 3–4): • The private sector is primarily driven by the financial bottom line, whereas public agencies generally have multiple and often ambiguous goals and a variety of key stakeholders. • Public agencies are more often subject to public scrutiny and political pressures. • Mandates in the public sector are often legislated and are not up to management prerogative. Key conclusions of the study were: 8 • Upper management must be seriously committed to and participate in the strategic planning process. • The development of a mission, goals, and objectives should be based on a careful analysis of the environ- ment (both internal and external) and should emphasize a marketing perspective. Objectives should be stated in ways that are measurable. • There should be linkages between strategic planning, program planning, and budgeting, and between achieve- ment of strategic planning objectives and personnel appraisals and compensation. • Indicators should be developed that measure the effi- ciency and effectiveness of transit services. • Good communication is a crucial ingredient of an effec- tive strategic planning and implementation process. • “Strategy champions” with appropriate responsibilities and incentives are needed for successful implementation. • Environmental change should be regularly monitored. • The process should be flexible, iterative, and continuous. • Based on the case studies, there are clearly different ways that strategic planning can be conducted in terms of levels of detail and formality, how the process is organized, who participates, and the degree of analysis and documentation. The report ends with a recommended strategic planning framework that includes the following seven steps: 1. Organize management team and planning staff. 2. Undertake an environmental or situation audit. 3. Establish mission, goals, and objectives. 4. Develop broad strategies. 5. Establish programs and budgets. 6. Monitor program results—measure. 7. Monitor the environment. In 1990, the NCHRP published Strategic Planning and Management Guidelines for Transportation Agencies (10). This study looked at the current environment for strategic planning and management in a variety of publicly funded transportation agencies, provided a definition of strategic man- agement and its components, and recommended guidelines for successfully institutionalizing strategic management. The report distinguished strategic management from other traditional management practices by noting that the tradi- tional practices ask “How do we keep doing what we are doing, only do it better?’ Strategic management focuses instead on an overall vision of where the organization should be heading, i.e., what it plans to accomplish and how it can get it accomplished. It provides for the involvement of the entire organization in managing its people, processes, and products toward successful accomplishment of its goals and objec- tives” (10, p. 1). The report went on to delineate the following minimum components of a strategic management process (10, p. 2):

9• Mission statement (including goals and objectives), • Environmental scan, • Strategy development, • Action plan development, • Resource allocation, and • Performance measurement. An environmental scan generally involves an analysis or assessment of both the external and internal issues that are likely to affect an organization. It is sometimes referred to as a “situation audit.” It concluded that in the various transportation agencies stud- ied, a “strategic management process and its benefits are pres- ent and understood in less than a dozen state departments of transportation” and that “many of the remainder—plus many transit, airport, port authorities, and other publicly funded transportation agencies—seem to have insufficient interest in, or understanding of, strategic management” (10, p. 1). The report included a set of guidelines for instituting strate- gic management comprised of four primary stages: Stage I. Identifying the Need for Strategic Management • Determine the current status of strategic management in the agency. Stage II. Establishment or Enhancement of Key Strategic Management Elements • Define the agency’s business. • Develop plans for implementing strategic management initiatives. Stage III. Integration of the Key Elements into a Functioning System • Ensure that the agency mission statement and goal structure are in place. • Obtain chief administrative officer and senior management commitment to the strategic management process. • Establish a clearly understood division of responsibility for strategic management implementation, including the selec- tion of implementation managers or facilitators. • Develop an accurate information base and maintain its timeliness. Stage IV. Ongoing Use and Refinement of the Strategic Management System • Monitor the strategic management system. • Develop a reward and recognition program. In a 2003 article, “How to Develop a Strategic Plan That Won’t Gather Dust” (11), Richard Simonetta (CEO of Val- ley Metro Rail, Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona) recognized that there is often a significant gap or breakdown between com- pleting a strategic plan and implementing its recommenda- tions. Too often the focus is on the production of a plan doc- ument and not enough emphasis is placed on its execution. He outlined several principles to ensure that the strategic planning effort is successful (11, p. 80): • The process needs to be ongoing, with broad input for development and specific responsibility for effective implementation. • The plan needs to have milestones and performance metrics to measure progress and celebrate achievements. • The plan needs to involve stakeholders in the develop- ment, deployment, and refinement stages. • Finally, a strategic plan must be a living document that evolves over time as the public transit system becomes more successful at achieving its short- and long-range goals. A similar case, that is, that strategic plans often fail to achieve full-scale implementation and significant service improvements, is made in “Segmented Strategic Planning: An Incremental Approach to Transit Planning and Implemen- tation” (12). The authors propose a segmented approach— rather than attempting a comprehensive organization-wide strategic planning effort, they recommend a “series of orches- trated, low-level strategic plans” (12, p. 1). The report describes such an approach in Knoxville, Tennessee, where only the downtown and university campus trolley service was the focus of a recent strategic planning effort. This segmentation made it much more manageable and helped to avoid many of the obstacles that often arise from a larger-scale planning effort. In December 2001, recognizing the potential of strategic planning to improve the effectiveness of transit systems, APTA produced a Strategic Planning Resource Kit (avail- able on CD) (13). Basically, the kit contains copies of the strategic plans of 28 transit systems. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT Almost all of the literature on strategic planning and man- agement emphasizes the need for linking the process to per- formance measurement. This is necessary to be able to mon- itor whether plans are being achieved and whether corrective action needs to be taken. There is a great deal of literature on the general subject of performance measurement. An excellent and very compre- hensive study of the issue that pertains directly to transit is the 2003 TCRP Report 88: A Guidebook for Developing a Transit Performance-Measurement System (14). This report provides detailed guidance for developing a system using tra- ditional and nontraditional measures that address both cus- tomer and community issues.

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT One of the strengths of strategic management is that it recog- nizes that strategic planning by itself often does little to change an organization’s direction, because it does not deal with the significant structural, political, and behavioral forces that tend to resist change. This point is made in two articles that argue for the blending or “marriage” of strategic planning and management and “Organization Development” (15, 16). Organization development (OD) seeks to develop and implement planned change strategies aimed at improving an organization’s effectiveness. It uses many tools or techniques to ensure that an organization has the internal capability to effectively achieve its goals and objectives. These include such activities as goal setting, leadership development, team building, employee feedback surveys, education and train- ing, organizational design, process consultation, coaching and counseling, and development of appropriate reward and recog- nition programs. In “For Successful Strategic Change: Blend OD Practices with Strategic Management” (15, p. 43), Buller suggests that OD tools can be helpful in the following phases of a typical strategic planning process: • Assessing and developing the organization’s readiness for change, • Facilitating the strategic planning process, • Helping with strategy implementation, and • Developing leadership skills. A similar point is made by Eadie and Steinbacher in “Strategic Agenda Management: A Marriage of Organiza- tional Development and Strategic Planning”; that is, that tra- ditional strategic planning too often results in “unimple- mentable strategies” (16, p. 424). In this article, the authors describe a case study of a large and complex public-sector organization in Ohio. They argue that strategic management can be one of the tools in the larger strategy of OD. More specifically they describe a concept of “strategic agenda management.” Strategic agenda management basically involves the “col- lective management of a strategic agenda, which changes as an organization’s problems and opportunities change.” The authors state that “effective strategic agenda management requires intensive, continuous, and collective involvement of senior management,” and that a strategic agenda must be highly selective if it is not to overtax the organization’s abil- ity to manage strategic issues (16, p. 425). The important point is that strategic planning and man- agement must pay close attention to not only the development of strategic initiatives but also to the organization’s capabil- ity to implement the initiatives. OD tools can be an important resource for developing or enhancing this capability. 10 NEW PARADIGMS IN PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION In the late 1990s, a group of transit industry leaders gathered under the aegis of the TCRP. The reason for this gathering was a shared concern that unless fundamental changes were made, the future of the transit industry was in jeopardy, owing to the significant changes taking place in the world and the inability of the transit industry to adapt to them (e.g., fundamental social and economic changes in this country, an emerging global economy, and the increasing significance of rapid advances in information technology). In 1997, a “future search conference” was organized by TCRP and the Eno Foundation to explore this issue. The con- ference included approximately 80 individuals representing transit managers, riders, drivers, labor leaders, political lead- ers, community residents and other important public trans- portation stakeholders. The effort led to a TCRP project that in 2003 culminated in a report that described emerging “new paradigms” that might affect the industry and that outlined a number of suggested responses (17). Many of the responses are such that strategic planning and management would be a key tool for developing and implementing them. The report points out that the transit industry has not changed its basic business model for more than 40 years. It also notes that although in recent years transit ridership has reached post-World War II highs, its market share of trips remains quite small. Moreover, increasing levels of automo- bile traffic are far outpacing the capacity of the street and highway system, thus leading to severe congestion and grid- lock in many areas. The project studied transportation in three key arenas else- where in transportation industries in search of lessons, or new models, for transit. 1. The “logistics revolution” in intermodal freight. 2. The rise of airline “alliances.” 3. New models for organizing and managing transit in Europe. In the freight arena, companies are finding ways to inte- grate their operations to better serve the door-to-door needs of their customers, encourage customer loyalty, and increase efficiency. This involves use of a logistics manager, who coordinates the movement of items from start to finish, and the use of powerful information technologies that allow uni- fied dispatching and tracking. Airlines have followed a very similar strategy, forming alliances with other carriers so that passengers can book trips through a single airline and so that the quality of service can be better tracked. Information tech- nology again plays a key role. Much the same is occurring in European transit. For exam- ple, even though there are a variety of operators that provide service in metropolitan London, London Transport has been empowered to set broad policy on fares, service coverage, and

11 service quality. It tracks efficiency and quality from the cus- tomer’s viewpoint. More recently, organizational changes are being made that give multimodal responsibility (buses, taxis, rail systems, ferries, and traffic control) to a new agency— Transport for London. The report goes on to identify four key elements of “the emerging paradigm”: 1. Emphasis on monitoring service quality and customer satisfaction across the entire network is replacing the previous emphasis on the operation of a particular agency’s vehicles and facilities. 2. New collaborative relationships or alliances are replac- ing independent agency operations and head-to-head competition. 3. Traditional assets such as vehicles, passenger terminals, and maintenance facilities are being jointly managed. 4. State-of-the-art information technology is being used to better manage operations, evaluate service quality, and provide customer information. A key theme of the emerging paradigm is that of “mobil- ity management,” the function of meeting the door-to-door travel needs of the customer no matter whose transportation assets are being used. This concept should be a central focus of the strategic planning efforts of transportation agencies. One of the new paradigm project reports includes as an appendix a guide that organizations can use for managing the change process (18). This includes strategies for • Recognizing the need for change, • Leading and planning change, • Making change happen, and • Institutionalizing new approaches. Most of the strategies described would be excellent com- ponents of an effective strategic planning and management process. The final report points out that transit agencies cannot do this alone, and that public policy decisions and public invest- ment must be coordinated in other key areas such as land use strategies, other public infrastructure investments (water, sew- ers, parking facilities, etc.), environmental measures (clean air and energy conservation), and other public policies such as tax incentives and economic development strategies. Because transit agencies have little or no control over these areas, they must work indirectly to encourage such coordination.

TRB’s Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Synthesis 59: Strategic Planning and Management in Transit Agencies examines the value and benefits of strategic planning and management in transit agencies. The report also provides case studies from five transit agencies based on the comprehensiveness of process or presence of innovative or noteworthy practices.

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• José Eduardo de Carvalho Lima 6 ,
• Paulo Renato Alves Firmino 7 &
• Luiz Alberto Oliveira Rocha 8  

Part of the book series: Advanced Structured Materials ((STRUCTMAT,volume 171))

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The study of demand is fundamental for organizations in all three sectors. In particular, it marks the production planning and control (PPC) of goods and services, which are fundamental steps for the sustainable development of any business. Thus, there is much research on demand forecasting and PPC. In this sense, using more or less sophisticated mathematical models dedicated to the theme of time series is indispensable. However, some authors warn about these practices’ decline by production managers for two reasons: the shortcomings of the simpler models and the complexity of the best models. Thus, there is no consensus or intense discussion about the best formalism of demand time series modeling to adopt in PPC. This paper presents a systematic review of recent literature on demand forecasting for PPC and the underlying time series formalisms from this proposition. We found 75 articles on the topic, from 2014 to 2022, based on Scopus, ScienceDirect, IEEE, EBSCOhost, Emeraldinsight, Jstor, Taylor & Francis Online, CAPES Journal Portal, and InderScienceOnline. The synthesis of the review was performed from a lexical analysis. As the main findings, the research reveals the literature imbalance, which raises the difficulties of better results in PPC. It should also be noted that few works dedicated to the PPC have resorted to the combination of predictors, one of the most successful time series modeling and forecasting classes, for its simplicity or the quality of its results.

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de Carvalho Lima, J.E., Firmino, P.R.A., Rocha, L.A.O. (2023). Demand Forecasting, Production Planning, and Control: A Systematic Literature Review. In: Öchsner, A., Altenbach, H. (eds) Engineering Design Applications V. Advanced Structured Materials, vol 171. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26466-5_25

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THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING IN SMEs: LITERATURE REVIEW AND IMPLICATIONS

Summary This paper examines how and to which extent small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) apply strategic planning within their business activities. Specifically, we address the question of why SMEs seem to plan less than big companies, whether strategic planning and corporate success correlate with each other and whether strategic planning is a function of increasing company size.

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Abstract This paper examines the English and French literature relating to the nature and value of strategy and planning within the small firm. It seeks to follow the literature trail that has emerged since the publication in the mid-1980s of a benchmark paper on planning and strategy in small firms by Robinson and Pearce. The literature review found that despite the passage of 24 years the no discernable pattern or generic theory relating to the value of planning or how such planning should take place within small firms has emerged.

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Although small and medium enterprises contribute immensely to the economy of a country, they are characterised by low performance and high failure rate which is often blamed on lack of resources such as funds, land and skilled labour. Many business management specialists argue that even on the availability of such resources, some SMEs still fail due to lack of strategic planning. Extent literature indicates that formal strategic planning improves business performance as it involves deriving a game plan that enables SMEs to anticipate and respond to the turbulent market by arranging their resources and capabilities accordingly. As such, this research investigates the status of strategic planning by SMEs in Botswana. The study also investigates the perceived value of Strategic Planning by SME owner managers, and the extent of planning as well as identifying the barriers that prevent effective strategic planning. Using semi-structured interviews of 36 Small and Medium firms selected across several sectors, the study finds that strategic planning efforts do exist within SMEs but most of these firms engage in strategic planning activities to a limited extent. The study also finds several barriers, which contribute to lack of strategic planning. For instance, the study finds that most SME owner/managers have limited knowledge in the area of strategic planning. Some indicated that they do not plan because of the size of the business. Whereas some admitted that they still possess the traditional based thinking where most business decisions are based on intuition. The findings of this study have implications for policy decision makers and SME owner managers.

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Research on small firm planning has established that small firms plan and has generally indicated that planning has value. Strategic plan content research often focuses on developing a wriaen plan. Little research has focused on who engages in planning and who does not. This study investigated the relationship between individual and firm differences and ihe extent to which planning takes place in the firm. Owner demographics such as education, age, and years in business, had liule relationship with planning activity levels whileftrm sales and number of employees were related to several planning activity measures.

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Writing a Literature Review

• Getting Started

Planning the review

Planning the steps in writing a literature review, useful resources.

• Melissa Bowles-Terry, Science Librarian
• Exploring the Literature
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• Organizing and writing the review

Planning the review ,  the first phases, concerns the preparation of accumulating, managing and organizing literature resources relevant for the review. It is a strategic roadmap that explores the literature with the purpose of identifying relevant sources and evaluating whether the content is appropriate for the review. Planning the review defines the scope in terms of what it will cover; how comprehensive the coverage be,and the timeframe.  

The actual steps in  writing a literature review requires planning. They are: 

Exploring the Literature . The reviewer needs to plan the selection of appropriate databases for finding relevant material, which also requires using strong strategic searching skills. 

Managing the Literature . The reviewer needs a plan for capturing information relevant sources in the literature for their study. Planning the management of information requires establishing a set of criteria for assessing the relevance of the captured resources for the review.  

Organizing and Writing the Review . This step entails two stages. First, the reviewer needs to prepare a robust outline for the chapter. The second stage encompasses the actual writing process. In compiling the content and in writing the review, requires the ability to plan, organize and synthesize information extracted from the literature.    

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How to Write A Literature Review - Steps with Examples

This is something, as a student, I remember very well: writing literature reviews. They were always assigned, yet few of us knew how to write anything really impactful. For me, a good literature review is not the mere act of summarizing; rather, it is analysis, synthesis, and illumination all about discovered knowledge gaps. So let us break it down step-by-step and notice exactly how WPS Office can be used as your secret weapon in getting this one right.

What is a Literature Review & What are the Parts of it? 

It's not a book report for adults—a literature review is a critical examination of research that is already published, which plumbs deep into the scholarly conversation around your topic. Think of it this way: you are giving a guided tour through the general intellectual landscape, and you're not only pointing at landmarks but also explaining their importance, their relations to one another, and where the unknown areas can be.

The Blueprint: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

Any well-constructed literature review will be built around the clear structure of an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction: This is your opening act. Here you introduce your topic and lay out the central question or thesis your review will address. You might also give a sneak peek at the key themes or sources you'll be exploring, should you do a stand-alone review. This will also be a good place to explain how you picked and analyzed sources.

Body: This is the meat of your review. This is where you are going to put together the information from your sources in such a way that it makes sense. Again, do not just summarize, but also include your own ideas pointing out strengths as well as weaknesses of each document and relating the different studies. You will need to write clear paragraphs with effective transitions so that your reader can easily follow through the material.

Conclusion: Time to wind up: According to your literature review, there is a need to summarize the major findings and explain how they relate to your question. What are the big takeaways? What remains unanswered? Your conclusion should leave the reader with a great sense of evaluation about the present state of knowledge on a subject area and indication of where future research in this area might lead.

This framework will help you to structure a good literature review. Once more, this is only a rough expectation—remember, it is not etched in the stone. While the basic structure will usefully be applied as it is for most of the assignments or projects, sometimes maybe you will need to slightly adjust it according to the concrete needs of the assignment or project. The key is the following: Your review needs to be reader-friendly and organized, and it needs to communicate clearly the research findings.

How to organize the literature review [4 approaches]

Now that you have collected your sources and extracted their key insights, you are well on your way to developing a well-structured story. In many ways, this is akin to choosing the appropriate lens for a camera—the literature review snaps into focus. There are four common ways to approach literature review organization:

1. Chronological: This approach is almost like a timeline of ideas. You will trace the development of a topic in chronological order, so you will center on central milestones, swings in ideas, and influential debates.

2. Thematic: View this as thematically organizing your research. This will allow exploration of the subject under study in a more systematic way.

3. By Method: If you are dealing with research that utilizes a variety of methods, then this can be a revealing approach. You will draw out comparisons and contrasts between studies based on their methodology, where appropriate, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.

4. Theoretical: This is commonly used within the humanities and social sciences, where theories are key. You will look at some of the several theoretical frameworks scholars have reached for to grasp your topic at hand, debating their strengths, limitations, and how they relate to each other.

The best approach for you will depend on what kind of research question you're asking and the body of literature involved. Don't be afraid to experiment and find the structure that works the best. You could also use a combination in your approach—like a primarily thematic approach with chronological elements there to help provide additional context for each theme.

How to Write a Literature Review Faster in 3 Steps

This type of strategic planning and effecting proper organization distinguishes an efficient literature review. The process of streamlining it is as follows:

Step 1: Gathering and Evaluating Relevant Sources

Research credible sources on academic databases like Google Scholar. Use specific keywords in order to find recent and influential publications that contribute to the topic at hand. Appraise every source according to your criteria of relevance and credibility.

Step 2: Identification of Themes and Literature Analysis

Skim through your selected sources in the search for emerging themes, debates, or gaps in the literature. Secondly, summarize key findings and methodologies for each source. Find the patterns or recurrent discussion which will help you categorize your review well and organize it.

Step 3: Outline and Structure Your Literature Review

Devise a clear structure for your literature review: introduce the topic and the thesis in the introduction, develop sources cohesively in the body, and summarize key findings in the conclusion. You could make use of organizational strategies such as chronological, thematic, methodological, or theoretical in representing your topic.

Use tools like WPS Office to plan your literature review and keep all of your sources well-organized. This will save you much time and guarantee that your literature review stays organized while you remain focused on your research objectives.

Remember: Do not simply list and summarize, but analyze and synthesize. Your literature review is not just a compilation of sources but one that critically relates the strengths and weaknesses of each piece of research, identifies the important debates in the area under consideration, and makes links between diverse pieces of research. WPS AI can help you to do this, through its identification of key terms, concepts, and relationships within the literature.

Bonus Tips: How to Perfect your Literature Review with WPS AI

Want WPS AI to be that magic weapon to help you make an extraordinary literature review? Here is how this intelligent assistant will supercharge your effort.

Annotation and Highlighting: WPS AI  permits direct annotation and highlighting of parts of interest within its software. This is quite useful to facilitate the marking of key findings, interesting quotes, or even areas in which authors have differed. By annotating through WPS AI, all critical points will be easy to refer to while you compose your review.

This WPS AI summarization tool will give you a condensed version of the long article or paper. It saves time by putting together exactly what the point or argument is from each source. On this, you will have a digest of several studies at your fingertips. This helps you easily compare and synthesize in your literature review.

Writing Assistance: Use WPS AI's writing tools to build your literature review section. These allow you to check the grammar, refine the sentence structure, work on the text length, and basically improve clarity. With these, you then ensure that it is well-written and easy for the readers to understand.

Build in these WPS AI features into your process of writing a literature review for refining workflow and bringing about a polished and insightful review that answers to academic standards.

FAQs about writing a literature review

Q1. what is the step before writing a literature review.

You must choose a topic, research existing literature, gather sources, determine themes, and make a defined scope of review before you begin writing your literature review.

Q2. Where should the literature review be placed within a dissertation?

Place the literature review after the introduction and before the methodology section of your dissertation.

Q3. Why do we need to write literature reviews?

Literature reviews would hence be a summary of earlier research on a topic, identification of gaps, building a context for fresh research, and devising credibility in an academic writing.

A literature review is one of the most critical steps of any research project. This aids in the placement of knowledge, pointing out the gaps, and placing one's research in a certain field. With accurate tools and strategies,or msg like WPS Office and WPS AI, the process can be streamlined in the production of quality literature reviews.

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• Volume 14, Issue 4
• Male involvement in family planning and its association with knowledge and spouse discussion in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis
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• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0440-8826 Bezawit Adane 1 ,
• Bereket Kefale 2 ,
• Yitayish Damtie 3 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9525-0552 Mastewal Arefaynie 2 ,
• Elsabeth Addisu 2 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6531-2468 Reta Dewau 4 ,
• Kefale Mitiku 5 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2388-3171 Tilahun Degu Tsega 1 ,
• Amare Agmas Andualem 6 ,
• Mahider Awoke 7 ,
• Tezera Asfaw 8 ,
• Yitbarek Wasihun 9 ,
• http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7314-2523 Melaku Yalew 1
• 1 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Injibara University , Injibara , Ethiopia
• 2 Department of Reproductive and Family Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Wollo University , Dessie , Ethiopia
• 3 Department of Reproductive and Family Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Injibara University , Injibara , Ethiopia
• 4 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Wollo University , Dessie , Ethiopia
• 5 Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Injibara University , Injibara , Ethiopia
• 6 Department of Anesthesia, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , injibara University , Injibara , Ethiopia
• 7 Department of Public health Nutrition, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Injibara University , Injibara , Ethiopia
• 8 Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Wollo university , Desssie , Ethiopia
• 9 Department of Health Promotion, College of Medicine and Health Sciences , Wollo University , Dessie , Ethiopia
• Correspondence to Bezawit Adane; adanebeza1987{at}gmail.com

Objective This study aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning (FP) and its association with knowledge and spouse discussion in Ethiopia.

Design Systematic review and meta-analysis using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols guidelines.

Data sources The study was conducted by the articles searched from different databases: (PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, HINARI and Google Scholar).

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies This research encompassed investigations carried out within married couples in Ethiopia, specifically focusing on studies where male involvement in FP was the primary outcome. The inclusion criteria comprised studies with an observational study design, encompassing both published and unpublished works, conducted in the English language, with no restrictions on data collection and publication year.

Data extraction and synthesis Following a systematic search of the articles, two independent authors assessed the quality of the studies, and data extraction was conducted using Microsoft Excel. The data analysis was performed by using STATA V.17. The overall level of male involvement in FP in Ethiopia was calculated using DerSimonian and Liard’s random-effect model, with a significance level set at a p<0.05. Heterogeneity was examined using the I 2 test, and Egger’s test was employed to assess publication bias.

Results The pooled prevalence of male involvement in FP in Ethiopia was 59.71% (95% CI (47.68% to 71.73%)). Good knowledge regarding FP (AOR 6.63, 95% CI (2.58 to 17.03)) and spouse discussion on FP (AOR 4.36, 95% CI (2.50 to 7.59)) were significantly associated with male involvement in FP.

Conclusions The prevalence of male involvement in FP in Ethiopia was low as compared with other literature conducted outside Ethiopia. Both good knowledge and spouse discussion regarding FP were significantly associated with male involvement in FP. So, the government and healthcare providers should focus on interventions that could increase their knowledge through different media. In addition, encouraging couples to have a discussion regarding FP could be a recalled intervention for healthcare providers.

• Adolescents
• EPIDEMIOLOGY
• Health Education
• PUBLIC HEALTH

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082094

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STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY

The study used a comprehensive and systematic search strategy.

The study is based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline.

The review was restricted to articles published in English.

The pooled estimate may be influenced by the language of publication and study design.

The heterogeneity of included studies was not resolved despite different efforts made.

Introduction

Male participation in family planning (FP) involves men taking actions independently, such as using FP methods or engaging in discussions with their spouses to endorse and support their utilisation. 1 2 Traditionally, the focus on reproductive health was predominantly centred on women. However, after the International Conference on Population and Development, there was a shift in perspective recognising men’s responsibility to actively advocate for responsible parenthood, sexual and reproductive behaviour, including FP. 3 4 This shift aimed to address the unmet need for FP often arising from objections by partners. 5–7

Consequently, the significance of male involvement in FP gained acknowledgement among reproductive health programme developers, policy-makers and population researchers. 8–10 Ethiopia’s Federal Minister of Health also recognised male engagement in FP as a strategy to enhance contraceptive prevalence rates. 11 Despite its importance, a notable proportion of men were not actively engaged in FP or other reproductive health services, 12 13 contributing to an estimated 31.45% prevalence of unmet contraceptive needs. 14

Globally, there are notable disparities in the adoption of male contraceptive methods. For example, the use of methods such as vasectomy, condoms, withdrawal and abstinence is less prevalent in the Americas compared with Asia and Africa. 15 In Bangladesh, research indicated that 94.8% of husbands were supportive of their wives using FP methods. 16 Southern India reported that 71.2% of males actively practised FP methods. 17 A study conducted in Nigeria found that 80% of men had previously used contraception, with 56% currently using it. 18 Conversely, in Cameroon, the level of male involvement in FP was determined to be only 57.2%. 13 Similarly, across various studies conducted in Ethiopia, the range of male involvement varied from 19.89% to 90.04%. 19 20

Despite various studies conducted across diverse regions of Ethiopia, there is a prevailing issue of inconsistent and inconclusive findings, leading to a lack of a nationally representative figure regarding the level of male involvement in FP. 19 20 Moreover, conflicting evidence concerning the influence of spousal discussions on FP involvement requires clarification to achieve an unbiased estimation. 19 21–23 This study seeks to contribute essential evidence that could inspire prompt action from programme planners and policy-makers. Its primary objective is to evaluate the degree of male involvement in FP and its association with knowledge and discussions with spouses in Ethiopia.

Study design and search strategy

The study adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols guidelines 24 in its design( online supplemental file 3 ). The research encompassed published materials sourced from databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO and HINARI, as well as unpublished articles obtained via the Google Scholar gateway. To identify potential articles, a combination of keywords and indices in line with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) was employed. These included terms such as “prevalence,” “magnitude,” “male,” “men,” “sexual-partner,” “partner,” “husband,” “spouse,” “involvement,” “role,” “participation,” “determinants,” “factors associated,” “associated factors,” “predictors,” “risk factors,” “family planning,” “family planning methods,” “contraception” and “reproductive health”. The search strategy involved the use of Boolean operators “AND” or “OR” where applicable. Two authors (MY and BA) independently conducted the search for these key terms. The full search strategy is attached as online supplemental additional 1 .

Supplemental material

Patient and public involvement, study selection and eligibility criteria, inclusion criteria.

Population: This systematic review included studies conducted among married/couples in Ethiopia.

Outcome: The studies focused on assessing male involvement in FP as their primary objective. To be eligible for inclusion, studies needed to report at least one of the following criteria: men actively using contraceptives, encouraging their spouses to adopt FP methods, endorsing the use of contraceptives, or expressing a willingness to use contraceptives in the future.

Study design: All observational studies were included.

Time frame: All studies irrespective of data collection and publication year until the end of January 2024.

Publication: Either published in peer-reviewed journals or unpublished studies.

Language: Studies published only in English language were included in this review.

Exclusion criteria

Studies with a poor quality score.

Purely qualitative studies were excluded from systematic review and meta-analysis.

Measurement of variables

Outcomes of interest.

The main focus of this study is to determine the prevalence of male engagement in FP in Ethiopia. To be classified as having male involvement, participants must exhibit at least one of the following characteristics: actively using contraceptives, encouraging their spouses to use FP methods, endorsing the use of contraceptives or expressing a willingness to use contraceptives in the future. 19 Another crucial aspect explored in this systematic review and meta-analysis involved investigating knowledge about FP and discussions between spouses as potential predictors of the primary outcome. According to various sources, knowledge in this context refers to a husband’s understanding of different FP methods. An assessment of knowledge was conducted using a set of questions, and men scoring above the mean of the distribution were considered to have good knowledge, while those scoring below the mean were categorised as having poor knowledge. 25 Spousal FP communication was measured based on the question ‘Have you ever discussed about FP with your husband/wife in the last 12 months?’ Hence, the responses were coded as 1 if both spouses agree they discussed or the husband alone reported ever discussed or the wife alone reported ever discussed and 0 if both spouses agree they never discussed. 26 These factors were particularly scrutinised due to their frequent mention in individual studies, and conflicting findings in previous articles regarding their impact on male involvement in FP.

Study quality appraisal and data extraction

The articles identified across all databases were imported into EndNote V.X8, where redundant files were removed. The remaining articles and their abstracts underwent an independent review for potential inclusion in the full-text assessment by two distinct groups (BK and YD). Using the Joanna Brigg’s Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist for prevalence studies, the evaluation focused on the methodological aspects of each article. Each question provides three options (yes, no, not clear), with a scoring system of 1 for ‘yes’, 0 for ‘no’ and 0.5 for ‘unclear’. The total value for each article was calculated by adding the scores for all questions. Articles with a cumulative value below 50% were considered for exclusion. However, we found that all articles had a value exceeding 50%, and thus, no paper was excluded based on quality criteria. 27 28 The quality assessment of the articles was conducted independently by two authors (EA and MA), and any disparities in their assessments were resolved by averaging their results. The details of this appraisal are provided as online supplemental additional file 2 .

Data extraction was conducted using a Microsoft Excel 2010 spreadsheet, encompassing various variables for the first objective. These variables included authors’ names with initials, study and publication year, study setting, design, sample size, response rate, quality score, participants’ gender, region and study findings. For the second objective, studies reporting any of the aforementioned factors as predictors were initially identified. Two authors (BA and MY) carried out the data extraction for both objectives, resolving any discrepancies through discussion and consensus.

Data synthesis and statistical analysis

The data, initially organised in Microsoft Excel, were imported into STATA V.17 version statistical software for a comprehensive analysis. The overall degree of male engagement in FP in Ethiopia was calculated using DerSimonian and Liard’s random-effect model, with a significance threshold set at a p<0.05. 29 The presence of substantial heterogeneity was determined through I 2 tests exceeding 75%, prompting additional subgroup and sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, Egger’s weighted regression test method was employed to assess potential publication bias, and a significance level of p<0.05 was considered indicative of statistically significant publication bias. 30

Study selection

The review initially identified a sum of 933 articles. Among these, 28 were eliminated because they were duplicates, and an additional 880 records were excluded after screening based on their titles and abstracts. Subsequently, the eligibility of the remaining 25 articles was assessed. Ultimately, nine articles were excluded for reasons such as being purely qualitative, having a small sample size or focusing exclusively on FP users by the authors. The qualities of 16 articles were evaluated using the JBI checklist for prevalence study by two independent authors. This process led to the inclusion of a total of 16 full-text articles in the systematic review and meta-analysis ( figure 1 ).

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PRISMA flow diagram of male involvement in family planning and its association with knowledge and spouse discussion in Ethiopia, 2024. PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.

Descriptive characteristics of included studies

All articles included in this study were of the cross-sectional study design, with sample sizes ranging from 272 to 2697 participants across different studies. The study conducted in Gedo town, Oromia and Harar town, Harari, Ethiopia had the smallest and largest sample sizes, respectively. 26 31 This systematic review and meta-analysis comprised a total of 9852 participants. Among the 16 studies included, 5 were carried out in the Amhara region, 21–23 32 33 5 in the Southern Nation Nationalities and Peoples region, 19 20 34–36 3 in Oromia 25 31 37 and 1 each in the Tigray, Afar and Harari regions. 26 38 39 The majority of the studies (85.7%) focused on married men 19–23 25 31–35 38 while the remaining studies focused on married females 26 39 ( table 1 ).

• View inline

Characteristics of studies included for a systematic review and meta-analysis, Ethiopia, 2024

Prevalence of male involvement in FP

The involvement of men in FP in Ethiopia, according to separate estimates, varied widely from 19.89% to 90.04% across different studies. 19 26 The analysis depicted substantial heterogeneity among these studies, as evidenced by the considerable variation (I 2 =99.4%, p=0.000). Employing a random effects model, the combined measure of male engagement in FP was determined to be 60.31% (95% CI (49.47% to 71.15%)) ( figure 2 ).

Forest plot of the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning using the random effect model, Ethiopia, 2024.

The sensitivity analysis indicated that there was no single influential estimate that could be attributed to the source of heterogeneity ( figure 3 ).

The result of sensitivity analysis showing the influence of a single study on its pooled prevalence, Ethiopia, 2024.

Even if the funnel plot by itself is not objective, the funnel plot of the pooled prevalence of male involvement in FP looks asymmetrical ( figure 4 ).

Funnel plot showing publication bias on the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning, Ethiopia, 2024.

The Egger’s test statistic also revealed that there was statistical evidence of publication bias (p=0.001) ( figure 5 ).

Eggers plot (regression line) showing publication bias on the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning, Ethiopia, 2024.

So, trim-and-fill analysis was considered to estimate the unbiased effect size ( figure 6 ).

Funnel plot after conducting trim-and-fill analysis to resolve publication bias on the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning, Ethiopia, 2024.

Subgroup analysis

Subgroup analysis was done by different parameters (region, study year, sample size and response rate) to observe the possible sources of heterogeneity ( figures 7–10 ), respectively.

Forest plot of subgroup analysis for the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning by region using the random effect model, Ethiopia, 2024. snnp, Southern Nation Nationalities and Peoples.

Forest plot of subgroup analysis for the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning by study year using the random effect model, Ethiopia, 2024.

Forest plot of subgroup analysis for the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning by sample size using the random effect model, Ethiopia, 2024.

Forest plot of subgroup analysis for the pooled prevalence of male involvement in family planning by response rate using the random effect model, Ethiopia, 2024.

However, heterogeneity was not totally resolved in subgroup analysis and the studies were considered for meta-regression, and none of them were significant ( table 2 ).

Meta-regression to identify heterogeneity among included studies, Ethiopia, 2024

Factors associated with male involvement in FP

The effect of knowledge about contraceptives was estimated by using six studies. 19 22 36 37 40 41 The pooled odds of male involvement in FP among knowledgeable participants were more than two times high as compared with counterparts (AOR 2.05, 95% CI (1.52 to 2.76)) ( figure 11 ).

Forest plot of the pooled estimate of the effect of knowledge about family planning on male involvement in family planning, Ethiopia, 2024. RR, response rate.

The Egger’s test showed that there was no statistical evidence of publication bias (p=0.392).

Using the random effect model, the aggregated odds of men participating in FP were found to be twice as high among individuals who engaged in discussions with their spouses about FP, in contrast to those who did not have such conversations (AOR 2.00, 95% CI (1.35 to 2.96)) ( figure 12 ).

Forest plot of the pooled estimate of the effect of spouse discussion regarding family planning on male involvement in family planning, Ethiopia, 2024. RR, response rate.

The Egger’s test showed that there was no statistical evidence of publication bias (p=0.832).

The combined extent of male engagement in FP in Ethiopia was recorded at 60.31 (95% CI (49.47 to 71.15)), with a notable correlation found between this involvement and both knowledge about FP and discussions between spouses on the subject. This overall involvement aligns closely with findings from a study in Cameroon (57.2%) 13 and it is comparable to another study in Southern India (71.2%). 17 However, it falls below the figures reported in studies conducted in Nigeria (80%) 18 and Bangladesh (94.8%). 16 The potential reasoning for these discrepancies might be rooted in sociocultural variations, particularly in the roles men assume in reproductive health services such as FP. Additionally, traditional norms and religious beliefs prevalent in different countries could also contribute to these differences. 42–45

Individuals who possessed a comprehensive understanding of the subject, as opposed to their counterparts with lesser awareness, demonstrated a higher likelihood of active involvement in FP. This correlation can be explained by the inherent principle that knowledge frequently acts as a precursor to action. Specifically, understanding the importance and implications of FP becomes a motivating factor for males, influencing their decision-making process. This influence extends to the choice of either personally using FP services or actively supporting and encouraging their utilisation by their female partners. Moreover, a profound knowledge of FP goes beyond mere awareness; it instils a sense of responsibility among men regarding the process of childbearing. This association between knowledge and increased male responsibility aligns with findings from a qualitative study conducted in Uganda, where a robust understanding of FP was identified as a catalyst for men taking a more active role in decisions related to family size and the timing of pregnancies. This insight underscores the transformative power of informed awareness, suggesting that a deeper understanding of FP not only shapes individual attitudes but also propels men towards greater involvement and responsibility in matters of reproductive health. 46

Similarly, the probability of men actively participating in FP exhibited a notable increase among individuals who engaged in open conversations about FP with their spouses in comparison to those who did not partake in such discussions. This observed correlation might be attributed to the idea that engaging in these discussions stimulates a more thoughtful and rational consideration of the subject matter. The act of discussing FP may cultivate a heightened sense of shared responsibility and ownership, particularly in the collaborative determination of the desired number of children and the optimal timing for their arrival. This association between male involvement and spousal communication in FP implies that dialogues within the marital unit play a pivotal role in shaping perspectives and decisions related to FP. The exchange of thoughts and preferences within these conversations contributes to a more informed and mutual decision-making process, fostering a collaborative approach between partners. This collaborative approach, in turn, is likely to enhance the level of male engagement in the overall FP dynamics. 47

While the study exhibited strengths, certain limitations must be acknowledged. The scope of the investigation was restricted to articles published exclusively in English, which could introduce a potential bias by excluding studies published in other languages. Additionally, all the studies incorporated into the meta-analysis were observational, specifically cross-sectional studies. This design limitation implies that establishing clear relationships between temporality and causality is challenging. Furthermore, despite concerted efforts to address it, heterogeneity persisted among the included studies, indicating variations in methodologies or populations that were not fully reconciled. To address these limitations and advance the depth of future research, it is advisable to consider a more inclusive approach. Specifically, incorporating interventional studies into the research design is recommended. Interventional studies can provide a valuable complementary perspective, offering insights beyond the constraints of observational data. This broader inclusion of study types has the potential to enhance the overall robustness of findings and contribute to a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the subject matter.

Conclusions

The level of male engagement in FP in Ethiopia was notably lower compared with findings from studies conducted in other regions. Having comprehensive knowledge about FP and engaging in discussions with spouses regarding this matter were both significantly linked to increased male participation in FP. Therefore, it is imperative for the government and healthcare providers to prioritise interventions aimed at enhancing men’s knowledge through diverse media platforms. Additionally, promoting discussions between couples about FP could be an effective intervention strategy for healthcare providers to implement. The government and non-governmental organisations should organise community awareness programmes specifically targeting male involvement in FP, aiming to augment its extent within the country.

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Not applicable.

Acknowledgments

Our special thanks go to all public health staff for their help when needed.

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Supplementary materials

Supplementary data.

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• Data supplement 1
• Data supplement 2
• Data supplement 3
• Data supplement 4

Author’s contribution BA, BK, YD, MY and EA: involved in the conception of a research protocol, literature review, study design, data extraction, data analysis, interpretation and wrote the result, MY, BA, BK, YD, MA, TDT and YW: involved in literature review, screening and drafted the manuscript, TA, TDT, KM, EA, BA, MY, RD and MA: undertake quality assessment, edited and revised the manuscript. BA act as guarantor. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests None declared.

Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.

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