Strategic Planning Practices by Firms in the Telecommunication Sector in Kenya

Abstract

Strategic planning, is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources in a bid to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. A host of factors influence an organization’s choice of direction, actions, and ultimately its organizational structure and internal processes that are easily managed through use of strategic management. The telecommunication industry’s environment in Kenya, just like the rest of the world, is going through profound changes where new markets, new players, and new challenges have characterized the market. This study endeavored to find out the strategic planning practices that firms in the telecommunication sector in Kenya applies in their day to day operations. The study employed a descriptive research design on a sample of five representative firms in the sector. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, the study acquired data from the research respondents which was analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The study found that various strategic planning practices are applied in all the firms and are used as guide to the departmental roles within the firms. The firms’ strategic practices were found to be specific to the area of operations with each area having some unique strategic practices such as marketing, financial management, human resource management, public relations, and procurement. The study found these strategic practices to be highly effective in meeting the firms’ objectives. Also, the strategic management practices were found to be affected by a few challenges that were observed to be avoidable if concrete measures are observed at the strategy conception level. The study recommends application of these strategic management practices in all firms in the sector as the firms are bound to benefit from them.