Factors influencing implementation of strategic plans: the case of Caritas, Nyeri Archdiocese

Abstract

Strategic planning is a process an organization goes through to consciously position itself and its environment by proactively responding to opportunities and threats offered by the environment Business organizations' interest in strategic plans implementation has grown in recent years. Competitive environment dominating both the profit and nonprofit sectors calls for strategic planning. Strategic plans formulation has been increasingly apparent, with organisations spending fortunes in the process. Challenges however continue being experienced when it comes to implementation of strategic plans. A solid strategic plan must accompany a successful implementation for organizations to prosper. It is no longer sufficient for organisations just to have the right strategic plan. This Research seeks to establish the factors that influence implementation of strategic plans. The objectives of the study are to establish how leadership, communication and control influence implementation of strategic plans at Caritas, Nyeri Archdiocese:

Literature on strategic plan implementation has been studied and presented. This includes literature on the strategic plan implementation globally as well as literature on strategic plans implementation at Caritas Nyeri Archdiocese. Literature on leadership, communication and control and their impact on strategic plans implementation has also been presented. A conceptual framework has been presented to show the relationship between the variables of the study. This research adopted a descriptive survey design to study the factors that influence strategic plan implementation at Caritas, Nyeri Archdiocese. Simple Random Sampling method was used select to select sample. The tools used for data collection are semistructured questionnaires. Data was thereafter analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics.

The study established that the strategic plan was, to a large extent, implemented successfully. The leaders of Caritas Nyeri Archdiocese were committed to the implementation and had the necessary skills and experience. While most of the employees were aware of the existence of the strategic plan, very few knew of its contents basically because sessions for communication of the content and staff roles in the plan implementation were non-existent or were far and in between. However, there was no feedback on implementation of the plan. Policies and performance targets to guide the implementation of the Strategic plan exist. However, performance was not measured against targets and many staff members did not know whether or not plan adjustments have been done based on feedback.