Exploring how experience and learning curves decrease the time invested in scenario planning interventions

•Strategy tool use need not be time intensive – our research reports executives spend less time than they expected.•Organizational factors - size & prior experience - matter the most in reducing time spent.•These results can be explained as benefiting from learning curve effects.•Scholars can use these findings to better define efficiency in strategic planning and specifically for scenario planning.•Practitioners can learn from this to better plan strategy initiatives and to secure the right resources.