Participatory Strategic Planning and Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

Scholars and managers alike have argued in favour of organizations embracing strategic planning to positively influence organization performance. Past studies have mainly focused on the direct relationship between adoption of strategic planning and organization performance. The key focus of this study was to examine the influence of employee participation in the strategic planning process on the organization’s performance. The study was done in the banking sector in Kenya where a total of 43 commercial banks were considered. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was adopted where a structured questionnaire was administered to gather information on employee involvement in strategic planning activities and how the same affect organizational performance. Study findings reveal that employee participation does positively influence the strength of the relationship between strategic planning and strategic planning outcomes and this influence is statistically significant. Given the research findings, policy makers and managerial practitioners should not only adopt strategic planning but also advocate for high employee involvement in strategic planning activities to realize better performance for their organizations. However, further research on this topic is recommended to validate and increase applicability of these study findings across many sectors of the economy