Factors influencing implementation of strategic plans: a case of the Department of Veterinary Services in Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya has adopted strategic planning in various institutions and Ministries to address distinct and prioritized strategic issues in order to upgrade service delivery and bolster employee and institutional efficiency. In the Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Livestock Development, strategic planning is part of the on-going public sector reforms aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of animal health services. The objectives of the study was to assess whether managerial support, resource allocation and performance appraisal system are factors affecting the implementation of strategic management plans in the Department.

The descriptive study employed a sample size of 44 officers randomly selected from the Department of Veterinary Services Headquarters at Kabete, Nairobi and the Provincial Veterinary Headquarters. Data was gathered through semi-structured questionnaires that were pre-tested on 6 individuals randomly selected from the study population to ensure reliability and validity of the tools. The data collected in the descriptive survey was analyzed by descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation). Multiple Linear Regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the factors strategic plan implementation.

The analysis was presented in tables and graphical representations. Based on the findings, the study concludes that management support does enhance the implementation of strategic plan at the Veterinary Department it shows that holding other factors (resource allocation and performance appraisal) constant, a unit increase in management support would lead to a 0.378 (p=.001) increase in successful implementation of strategic plans at the Veterinary Department. Performance appraisal system positively influences the implementation of strategic plans at the Veterinary Department. Conducting regression, it was established that performance appraisal do enhance the chances of successful implementation of strategic plans (p < 0.001).

The study established that resource allocation improves successful implementation of strategic plan (p = 0.018). Resource was established to be the most significant factor enabling the implementation of strategic plans. On management support, the study recommends the Department to minimize political interference in implementation of strategic plans, educate the staff on its policy documents, increase stakeholder collaboration, additional funds in strategic plan implementation and facilitate the staff better in areas such as transport especially during implementation. The Department also needs to work on its resource allocation which was rated poor. The department also needs to authenticate information brought for appraisal and also improve on its reward system.