While we cannot conclude that long-range planning pays or does not pay, this preliminary study does indicate that there is no simple, across the board relationship between the financial success of the firm and its use of long-range planning. Obviously, such variables as timing, luck, and the immeasurable quality of "overall managerial competence" have a more direct relationship to a firm's performance success than the formality of its long-range planning activity. The next logical step in this study is to analyze each separate industry within each major industrial grouping. It is quite possible that this breakdown will show that certain industries do exhibit more favorable results from their long-range planning activities.