An investigation into the factors affecting strategic plan implementation

Abstract

There is a household. call for public sector departments to provide services efficiently through effective implementation of policies projected in strategic plans. This article is based on a study carried out between January and June year 2009 to investigate on the factors that affect strategic plan implementation in public sector departments in Central Province. The study objectives were: to establish whether leadership affects strategic plan implementation, to find out whether employee's technical skills affect strategic plan implementation, to find out whether employee involvement in the formulation of strategic plans affect strategic plan implementation and finally to find out how financial resources affect strategic plan implementation. The primary purpose of the article is to shed light on the factors that influence the implementation of public sector strategic plans. The study sought information from documents from statistics departments showing the number of departments in Central Province Provincial Headquarters. Other vital information was got from strategic plans from sampled departments, sessional papers, journals and books, relevant previous studies and the internet. Data was collected from 15 heads of departments out of a possible 46 and 60 line staff employees out of 300. Findings from the study revealed that strategic plan implementation is affected by amongst other factors financial resources, technical skills, employee involvement and leadership. It was recommended that appropriate reinforcements be used to turn around employees' attitude to work, relevant on- job trainings be carried out, communication levels be more open and employees be held squarely accountable for any section of public service delivery that is faulty, lagging behind or not effective at all.