Survey of strategic planning and performance of public corporations in Kenya

Public corporations have been criticized for inefficiencies and \nmismanagement. They are said to contribute to. many of the \nproblems hindering economic growth such as public sector deficits, \ndomestic and foreign borrowing and misallocation of resources. In \nas much as public corporations are important to the Kenyan \neconomy, little research has been done on them. \nThis study therefore addressed the question: 'What is the mode of \nstrategic planning in public corporations and how does this affect \nperformance?' \nObjectives of the study were to determine the mode of strategic \nplanning in public corporations in Kenya and to find out whether the \nmode of strategic planning in public corporations is related to the \nperformance of such corporations. \nThe study was a survey. The population of interest was all ninetytwo \npublic corporations in Kenya. Primary data was collected using \na semi-structured questionnaire (refer appendix 2). Both structured \nand unstructured questions were be used. The basic data collection \nmethod was through "the drop and pick later technique. The data ~ \nwas then analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentages, \nfrequency tables, mean scores, standard deviation and crosstabulation. \nThis was then interpreted to show the relationship \nbetween strategic planning and performance. \nFrom the results of data analysis, it was found that the mode of \nstrategic planning in public corporations was planned and \ndeliberate. Public corporations had formal control and plans were \nimplemented in rather stable environments. Where plans were \ndocumented, implemented, employees were aware of their \nexistence, planning departments existed and planning \nresponsibilities clearly assigned, performance from qualitative \nfactors was very good. Where none of the above existed, \nperformance was mixed i.e. very good in some performance \nindicators and not very good in others. It was not possible to relate \nfinancial performance to the mode of strategic planning due to lack \nof financial performance information. \nThe recommendations were made with a view to improving strategic \nplanning and performance in public corporations. Employees need \nto be sensitised on the objectives of the public corporations once \nthey have been developed so that everybody works towards their \nachievement. Public corporations could lobby to the Government to \nhave limited or no government control in their respective \norganizations so that they can respond adequately to opportunities \nand challenges in their environment. There is need for public \ncorporations to enhance collection of competitor information, which \nthey can use to gain a competitive edge. They need to consider use \nof various business analysis tools during planning. There is need to \nredefine the roles of both the public corporations' chairmen and the \ndirectors and to rationalize appointments to boards to ensure they \nare appointed on the basis of competence and professional \nexperience.