Strategic planning at Harambee Co-operative Savings and Credit Society Limited
Abstract
Strategic planning has become a pillar of many organizations in the last decade and from time immemorial, people have joined together in order to achieve .shared objectives. To
marshal and then direct required resources, it is necessary to seiect one amongst several possible ways for implementation. For this reason strategic planning therefore fits the definition of a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does and why it does it. Hence strategic planning is a necessary evil to organizations.
This research was undertaken to understand strategic planning at Harambee Sacco Society. The objective was to investigate the strategic planning at the organization and in carrying out this case study; data was collected through the dispensation of interview guide forms and through constant observation. It was done with the help of the organization's Director and the Top management. Studies have found out that there is no uniform approach to strategic planning as different companies apply different approaches. A strategic plan for one organization is rarely optimal for another, so all strategic plan do not work alike and should not look alike and the difference in strategic plans lie in which areas to include and which ones to omit and focus on. These decisions are organization specific as all organizations have slight different structure focus, geographic scope, programs and services.
Strategic planning is not without challenges and complications, as these are seen to be brought about by the shifts in paradigms, environment, people perceptions and business competitions which require constant monitoring and evaluation. The research found out from the study that by carrying out thorough situational analysis of an organization, identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for an organization is important for setting out a successful strategic plan for an organization. This research study was faced with limitations of reaching the participants who mostly are directors and senior managers who were mostly occupied with various activities making their time schedule busy and not available most of the time for the interviews.
The researcher faced limitations in accessing vital and sensitive documents such as financial statements and also since the sample size was small, it was entirely restricted to
a few participants. The study suggested further research work to investigate whether duration set for a strategic plan has any direct advantages and disadvantages and whether such limits lock out any potential that could be realized if the period were to be longer or shorter. Further research should also be done on how to match available resource/ budgeting with strategic goals without constraining resources for tackling short-term emerging problems
not captured in the strategic plan.
The study recommends that organizations need to invest in thorough situational analysis in order to come up with a successful strategic plan. It is also important to set specific objectives to be met within set time frames as well as setting of performance indicators to enable evaluation when coming up with a strategic plan and also to consider all the stakeholders to ensure smooth running of the organization.
Publisher
University of Nairobi, Kenya