Organizational Factors Influencing Implementation of Strategic Plans in Universities in Mount Kenya Region, Kenya

Abstract

In this period of globalization when the world is consistently experiencing numerous rapid changes in various grounds, the atmosphere that the organizations operate on is dynamic and unstable. This has led to strategic planning to facilitate an organizational framework that necessitates changes and gain a competitive edge. In this study, the main objective was to establish influential factors of strategic plans implementation in universities a case of universities in the Mount Kenya region. Guiding the study was the following general objective: to establish the influence of organizational factors on the implementation of strategic plans in universities in the Mount Kenya region. Previous studies concurred that goo strategies have been written but very little done to achieve implementation. This led to studying Organizational Factors that influence Implementation of Strategic Plans in Universities in Mount Kenya Region. Research design used in this study was descriptive cross-sectional survey, the research design was used to observe and describe the behavior of a person without influencing the respondent. The study's target population was 295 heads of departments from the 8 universities in the Mount Kenya Region. A sample of 170 respondents was made possible by using purposive sampling technique and stratified random sampling. The questionnaire used closed-ended questions for data collection. Analysis of data was then done using content analysis and descriptive statistics and then presented through percentages and frequencies. The study carried out a correlational analysis to ascertain the relationship and strength of associations between implementation of strategic plans, organizational leadership, organizational culture, organizational resources, and organizational culture. The study established that organizational leadership, organizational structure, organizational resources and organizational culture influence implementation of strategic planning in Universities in the Mount Kenya region. The study provides stakeholders in universities with a picture of factors affecting the process of implementation of strategic plans such as organizational structure, organizational leadership, organizational resources and organizational strategy that would promote the implementation of the strategic plans. The study is also useful to employees who are the implementers of the stipulated strategic plan because they did understand what strategies to do away with or how the relevant strategies were to be communicated, accessed, monitored and evaluated for smooth implementation.