ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATAGIC PLANNING FOR THE GROWTH OF ORGANIZATION: THE CASE OF WOLKITE UNIVERSITY

Abstract

To survive, organizations must respond and adjust to the social, economic, political, and environmental changes that occur. Unfortunately, in most organizations especially in the higher educational institutions, even strategic plans are carried out they are not implemented properly due to lack of appreciation and knowledge of the effective implementation of strategic planning on organization growth The study sought to examine the effective implementation of strategic planning in the higher educational institutions. Organizations operate in constantly changing and competitive environment. To achieve the objectives 90 questionnaires were administered to 90 management staff of the University administration, randomly selected from the administration office of the University. Microsoft Excel and simple statistical methods like frequency distribution tables and charts were used to analyze the data that were collected by the questionnaire. The findings of the study revealed that, in the country the higher educational institutions have seen the need to formulate and implement strategic plans. The process of formulation and implementation of strategic plans in the higher educational institution is similar to the existing process of setting objectives, scanning, selecting strategies, implementation and evaluation in the private sector. The study found that the higher educational institutions face challenges in the implementation of their strategies due to long processes of approval by the approving authorities, the delay in release of funds, the shortage of skilled staff in some specialized areas, and the lack of commitment from officials. The findings of the study thus, lead to the overriding conclusion that strategic planning was effective and had a positive impact on the growth of organizations in the higher educational institutions.