Role of Strategic Planning Practices on the Performance of Public Institutions in Kenya

The grand promise of strategic planning has been to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of organizations by improving both current and future operations. Strategic planning provides a framework for managements vision of the future. This study sought to investigate the role of strategic planning practices on the organizational performance of public institutions in Kenya with an emphasis on the public service commission of Kenya. The study also sought to establish the effect of stakeholders involvement, resources allocation, environmental scan and communication influences the organizational performance of the Public Service Commission of Kenya. This study used descriptive research design to meet the objectives of the study. The target population of this study was therefore 130 staff working in the management of the Public Service Commission of Kenya. In addition, this study used stratified random sampling to select 50 % of the target population and hence the sample size of this study was 65 respondents. This study used primary data which was collected by use of semi-structured questionnaires. The researcher analyzed the data using statistical package for social science (SPSS version 21). Descriptive statistics such as percentages, mean, standard deviation and frequencies as well as inferential statistics (Multivariate regression analysis) were used to analyze the quantitative data. Data was then presented in tables and figures (bar charts and pie charts). This study established that environmental scan in strategic planning contributed most to the organizational performance of Public Service Commission of Kenya followed by stakeholders involvement then resources allocation while communication contributed the least to organizational performance of Public Service Commission of Kenya. The study also found that the Public Service Commission of Kenya was involving parastatals to a moderate extent and the Public to a low extent. This study therefore recommends that the organization should improve the parastatals and the public involvement in strategic planning. This can be done by use of open forums. It was also revealed that insufficiency in resources and funding leads to inadequate budget systems/processes which subsequently lead to inadequate salaries, also a budgetary issue. This study also recommends that the government of Kenya should ensure that the Public Service Commission of Kenya is fully funded to avoid issues related to inadequate salaries, equipments, information as well as other resources.