Relationship Between Strategic Planning and Performance of Public Secondary Schools in Kangundo Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya
Relationship Between Strategic Planning and Performance of Public Secondary Schools in Kangundo Sub-County, Machakos County, Kenya
e-ISSN: 2320–7388,p-ISSN: 2320–737X Volume 6, Issue 6 Ver. I (Nov. - Dec. 2016), PP 99-105
www.iosrjournals.org
Abstract: Many scholars and authors argue that the relationship of strategic planning and performance has
not been clearly established and that although strategic planning is not the sole contributor to high organization
performance, organizations with excellently executed strategic plans perform better than their counterparts.
Issues of contingency, dynamic and complex environment have necessitated strategic planning in organizations.
To address the concerns of quality of education provided, the Government of Kenya has made it mandatory for
all public secondary schools to develop strategic plans to guide their operations. Whereas many schools have
developed strategic plans, how these strategic plans have helped them to improve on their performance is not
clear. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between strategy implementation and
performance in public secondary schools in Kangundo Sub-county. The study was conducted in Kangundo Sub
County, Machakos County. The target population of the study was 28 principals, 28 deputy principals, 28 senior
teachers and 28 boards of management chairpersons in 28 public secondary schools in Kangundo Sub-county.
Cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. A census of all schools was done where in every school, the
principal, deputy principal, senior teacher and the chairperson of the board of management was selected. The
study had a sample size of 112 respondents and employed structured questionnaires as the instrument for data
collection. The reliability and validity of the instrument were enhanced through pilot study. Descriptive
statistics were used to analyze data, which were presented using frequencies, tables, graphs and percentages.
Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between variables. The study found out
that: strategy implementation was found to have the largest impact in school performance.
Keywords: Strategic planning, strategic implementation, organizational performance
I. Introduction
The Kenyan education system runs from early childhood to the primary or elementary education level,
to secondary education and finally tertiary education at the college or university levels. The Kenya government
endeavors to provide quality education to every Kenyan child irrespective of their social-economic status
through initiatives such as Free Primary Education (FPE), Universal Primary Education (UPE), and Education
for All (EFA), Free Secondary Education (FSE) and Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE). Basic education
embraces ECDE to Secondary school level, (Basic Education act No.14 of 2013). These initiatives have set time
limits, for instance, UPE by 2005, EFA by 2015, (Sessional paper No. 1 2005).
The government developed Education Sector Strategic Plan (2003) and set targets outlined in the
Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005. It then launched KESSP in 2005 which is part of a multi-donor sector wide
approach supporting Kenya in its effort to reach its Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015,
(Walekhwa, 2008). However, with changes in the political and legal arena propelled by the inauguration of new
constitution in 2010, there have been numerous changes in policy, for instance, the implementation agent has
changed to National Education Sector Support Program (NESSP) and Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005 updated to
Sessional Paper No. 14 of 2012 with reference to a new Basic Education Act 2013 and the new MOE’s strategic
plan 2012-2017.
In Kenya education helps push further the government’s economic and social agenda by providing a
skilled workforce, generating a civilized society and promoting active citizenship, (Basic Education Act, 2013,
Constitution of Kenya, 2010). The purpose of public secondary schools in Kenya is to equip learners with
knowledge, skills and values to compete in obtaining quality courses and colleges, (Birgen, 2007). Ranking of
schools and individual student performance at national, county and sub-county levels has heightened
competition among public secondary schools. Stakeholders in education have consequently embraced strategic
planning as a management tool to diagnose the competitive environment, allocate resources appropriately and
secure a competitive advantage sustainable over a long period. Hence, the question under debate is whether or
not strategic planning improves performance in schools. The controversy on whether the strategic planning
improves performance in schools has been ongoing. For instance, Bell (2012) focusing on English schools in the
UK examined whether strategic planning and school management was just full of sound and fury signifying
nothing.
Every organization has an internal and an external environment that are interdependent (Albanese and
Van Fleet, 2013). The continuous evolution and interaction of internal environment components and the
turbulent and dynamic nature of the external environment occasioned by constant changes in competition,
economy, technology, political-legal aspects and social-cultural-demographic factors, has made strategic
management popular in comprehending an organization’s strategic position and strategic choices in pursuit of
excellent performance (Pearce II and Robinson, 2009). The contingency theory postulates that organizations are
open systems and there is no one best way of managing an organization (Burnes, 2010). This is because rapid
environmental changes present them with various opportunities, threats and constraints (Barney, 2007).
Strategic planning practices in Kenya commenced slowly and gradually back in the 1960s but are
presently gaining currency and popularity (Yabs, 2007). The public sector finds the concepts of strategy and
strategic planning just as important as in commercial firms and hence public secondary schools in Kangundo
Sub-County are required to formulate strategic plans in tandem with the MOE’s strategic plan in order to foster
the government’s agenda to provide every Kenyan child with the right to quality education and training (Birgen,
2007). Besides adoption of strategic planning as a government’s policy, the dwindling resources coupled with
the ever changing and highly competitive environment have made strategic planning a necessary practice (Gode,
2009).
Strategic planning is expected to positively influence performance (academic and non-academic)
because it aids in selection of strategies that enable organizations to best allocate and exploit their resources and
strengths relative to opportunities in their external environmental (Akinyi, 2010). This makes strategic planning
in Public Secondary Schools in Kangundo Sub-County inevitable because they can only attract quality students
and receive support from their stakeholders if they meet acceptable standards of performance.
Strategic planning aims at making strategic decisions or strategic choices through formulation of
mission and vision, setting of policies, goals and objectives and identifying means of achieving those objectives.
Organizations engage in strategic planning in order to achieve clarity of future direction, design internal action
approaches, make proper choices and priorities, deal effectively with organizational changes and uncertainties in
external environment, build team work and expertise based on resources, processes and people and develop
effective strategies to improve organizational performance, (Cole, 2004, Peng, 2007). Performance is the goal of
every organization; it refers to the end result of activities, while strategic planning aims to improve these results.
Ansoff (1990) and Yabs (2007) records that strategic planning has gained popularity since the 1960s. This is
because of its perceived relevance in diagnosing the prevailing competitive and turbulent business environment
and enabling appropriate resource allocation to gear the firm towards achievement of its short-term objectives
and long-term goals which determine a firm’s performance level in the markets and industries it operates,
(Barney, 2007, Kotler, 2003).
The concept of performance is vital in all organizations whether commercial, profit-making or Not-for-
profit organizations, private or public sector, (Johnson, et. al., 2008). Organizational performance is a measure
of the extent to which the organization’s goals and objectives have been achieved. Such measure of achievement
informs all the stakeholders of the extent to which we are succeeding in the business we are in. Based on their
context, different organizations use different modes of performance. (Mazzarol and Rebound, 2009), notes that,
organizational performance can be measured as achieving sustainable growth over time using such indicators as
annual turnover, the number of employees, size of assets and equity in the balance sheet, market share and
profitability. Kotler (2003) defines performance as the process of putting plans into action for the
accomplishment of set objectives. However, Bolo, Muturia and Oeba(2010),says that firm performance refers to
how well or badly a firm is performing both financially and non-financially thus exclusive use of financial
achievements or indicators as the sole yardstick to determine organizational performance would be lopsided
because organizations desire to achieve broad objectives. As such, Thompson, et. al., (2007) suggests that, use
of a balanced scorecard for measuring company performance that tracks the achievement of both financial
objectives and strategic objectives is optimal.
Measurement of performance in a school set-up will therefore include academic excellence, land,
infrastructure development, discipline and school culture, stakeholder satisfaction, financial stability and
excellence in non-academic activities. Firm performance is therefore a very essential aspect of a firm because as
March and Sutton (2007), put it, performance comparisons become a basis for evaluating executives, making
decisions about resource allocation of human and other resources, for writing history and for stimulating
arrogance and shame.
The ministry’s strategic plan is cascaded down to individual public secondary schools that are expected
to enact a strategic plan in tandem with the Ministry of Education’s Strategic Plan. Evidently, strategic planning
in public secondary schools is largely determined by external pressures such as policy. Pressure on existing
resources, desire for quality, challenge of rapidly changing policy and the highly competitive environment in the
industry makes strategic planning relevant. As Les Bell (2012) notes, strategic planning is a key management
process that draws together institutional values and goals and provides a framework for the quality of provision
and the deployment of resources. The question of concern is therefore, whether strategic planning in public
secondary schools leads to improved performance.
It is through performance of strategy that an organization can figure out its future and benefit from the
opportunities the future provides. The purpose of strategy is to provide directional cues to the organization that
permit it to achieve its objectives while responding to the opportunities and threats in the environment (Pearson
and Robin 2007). This means that the whole essence of a strategy and strategic management is to address the
implications of the external environmental changes to the organization’s plans, objectives, vision, and mission,
as well as resource deployment. Hence, it involves focus on the horizon as opposed to the bottom line; it is
transformative, long term, and geared towards organizational adaptation to new ways of doing things. Strategic
implications emanate from the external environment, and as such the key role of an organization’s management
is anticipation.
This is fundamentally critical because this change yields opportunities and threats to the organization.
Further, these strategic implications result in the change of the assumed future state of affairs conceptualized in
the preparation of the organization’s goals and objectives, due to the new set of challenges and/or opportunities
posed to the organization. Strategy performance can also be seen as a series of interventions concerning
organizational structures, key personnel actions, and control systems to ensure desired standards of performance
are met. It is an iterative process of implementing strategies, policies, programs and action plans that allows a
strategic to utilize its resources to take advantage of opportunities in the competitive environment (Harrington,
2006).
Many of the studies on the relationship between strategic planning and firm performance were done
between 1970s and early 1990s, in the developed economies. These studies focused on the direct relationship
between strategic planning and firm performance. Although the studies within the African context by Woodburn
(1984), Adegbite (1986) and Fubara (1986) noted that firms that practiced strategic planning recorded better
performance compared to non-planners, their focus, however, was on the formality of planning rather than the
link between planning and firm performance. It is noted that the past studies did not give attention to the
individual steps that make up the strategic planning process. It is perceived that the manner and extent to which
each of the strategic planning steps is addressed could have implications on the realization of the expected
corporate goals.
Research Objective
To establish the relationship between strategy implementation and performance of public secondary schools in
Kangundo Sub-County.
and active executive support, widespread perceived need for the strategic planning, effective communication,
through engaging employees, thorough organizational planning and competitive analysis, aligning budgets and
performance, and by monitoring and adapting.
Strategy implementation involves organization of the firm's resources and motivation of the staff to
achieve objectives. The environmental conditions facing many firms have changed rapidly. Today's global
competitive environment is complex, dynamic, and largely unpredictable. To deal with this unprecedented level
of change, a lot of thinking has gone into the issue of how strategies are best formulated. Strategic management
is about managing the future, and effective strategy formulation is crucial, as it directs the attention and actions
of an organization, even if in some cases actual implemented strategy can be very different from what was
initially intended, planned or thought. The assessment of strategy formulation processes becomes crucial for
practitioners and researchers alike in order to conduct and evaluate different formulation processes (Olson et al.
2005). According to Wheelen and Hunger (2008), strategy implementation is the process by which objectives,
strategies and policies are put into action through the development of programs, budgets and procedures.
Finally, evaluation and control process seeks to ensure that a firm is achieving what is set out to achieve by
comparing performance with desired results, revealing the performance gap and providing feedback necessary
for the management to take correct action (Yabs, 2007).
According to David (2003) the human element of strategic implementation plays a key role in
successful implementation and involves both managers and employees of the organization. Both parties should
directly participate in implementation decisions and communication that play a key role in ensuring that this
occurs. Business performance is influenced by this human element of strategic implementation. Through
providing performance incentives to employees during the implementation phase, it is suggested by David
(2003) that business performance will be positively influenced. Strategic decisions determine the organizational
relations to its external environment, encompass the entire organization, depend on input from all of functional
areas in the organization, have a direct influence on the administrative and operational activities, and are vitally
important to long-term health of an organization (Shirley, 1982). According to Schermerhorn (1989), strategies
must be well formulated and implemented in order to attain organizational objectives. Therefore, the ability of
strategy to lead a firm to success in performance starts way before implementation; during formulation.
According to Pride and Ferrell, (2003) implementation is an important component of the strategic
planning process. It has been defined as “the process that turns strategies and plans into actions to accomplish
organizational objectives”. It addresses the, who, where, when, and how to carry out organizational activities
successfully to achieve better results (Kotler et al. 2003). Implementing strategic change is a double-edged
sword because it simultaneously generates expected performance gain and unexpected performance loss (Brown
2005; Kennedy, Goolsby, and Arnould 2003). When unexpected performance loss dominates or drains away
expected performance gain, change becomes ineffective. Moreover, the coexistence of performance gain and
loss is likely to yield confounded evidence for strategic change outcomes. Organizations may fail to maximize
the performance benefits of strategic change because they either do not detect the presence of performance loss
or fail to diagnose and mitigate the loss. It is not surprising that extant research provides evidence of equivocal
effects of change that are either positive (Siguaw, Brown, and Widing 1994) or negative (Harris and Ogbonna
2000).
In his study of “aspects of formulation and implementation of strategic plans in Kenya”, Aosa (1992)
surveyed 51 large private manufacturing firms through a survey. Using questionnaires and a drop and pick
method, Aosa concluded that management was the key factors that influenced strategic plans formulation and
implementation. The scholar also noted that an effective implementation process required a collective approach
to culture and communication while keeping clear communication channels and realigning firm resources so
that strategic plans are not halted by lack or inadequate implementation resources.
Dooley, Fryxell and Judge (2000) indicated that strategic implementation has a distinct relationship
with various organizational elements like performance. Dooley, Fryxell and Judge (2000) further endorsed that
there is a positive association between strategic consensus and firm performance. In developing policies during
the implementation process, methods, procedures, rules, forms, and administrative practices are established to
achieve the desired objectives. According to David (2003), strategies which are implemented within an
organization should support the culture associated with the firm, if there is going to be successful in ensuring
enhanced performance in an organization. The proposed strategy should preserve, emphasize, and enhance the
culture, in accordance with the culture supporting the proposed strategy (David 2003). Therefore, strategies to
be implemented must be consistent with organizational culture to realise the desired organizational performance
results. Further, conflict management also plays an integral role within the implementation process.
Although strategic plan implementation is perceived to be associated with good firm performance, the
organizational leadership could influence the attainment of anticipated results. Aosa (1992) noted that
participating in the implementation of strategic plans varied with some companies exhibiting high participation
while others had low participation as dictated upon by their leadership style. Leaders should focus their
members in the same direction with CEOs being at the forefront to provide vision, initiative, motivation and
inspiration (Ombina, Omoni & Sipili., 2010).
Mintzberg (2004) argues that a good implementation of strategic plan is dependent on the learning and
development environment for employees who are the true foot soldiers of implementation. This learning
orientation requires emphasis on openness, collaboration, equity, trust, continuous improvement and risk taking.
In order to attain this, there has to be adaptation to changing environmental conditions attainable under good
leadership that generate clear communication to the followers with confidence and approval from the
stakeholders. The world of NGOs is experiencing stiff competition for the limited funding sources from both the
West and East necessitating the need to explore how management styles would affect implementation of their
strategic plans, and achievement of set strategies to gain a competitive edge and remain credible to continue
accessing donor funds.
IV. Conclusion
The strategy implementation phase had the highest significant impact on school performance compared
to the other phases. A unit improvement in strategy implementation translated to 0.335 times improvement in
school performance. However, there were indications of shortage of resources for strategy implementation.
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