By: Edwin Omwoyo Mitaki and Esther Gitonga
Abstract
Religious organizations and the various institutions they run contribute towards social change in communities even in Kenya. The well-being and growth of these institutions is anchored on strategic planning practices. Organizations both profit oriented and non-profit (for instance churches) are slowly embracing strategic planning practices to run on the basis of accountability and transparency. The main objective of this study was to establish the effects of strategic planning practices on competitive advantage of SDA movement in Nairobi City County Kenya. The study specifically looked at the effects of strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy monitoring and evaluation on competitiveness at SDA movement in Nairobi City County Kenya. The study was guided by resource-based theory; strategy fit theory, and institutional theory. This study was a descriptive survey. The target population of this study was the 835 management staff working at SDA movement in Nairobi City County Kenya. The sample size was 86 SDA movement top management, middle level management as well as low level management staff in Nairobi County. Primary data was collected directly from respondents using questionnaires. Before processing the responses, the completed questionnaires were edited for completeness and consistency. Quantitative data collected was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics using SPSS (Version 21). Data was presented in form of percentages, means, frequencies and correlations and presented using various forms of charts and tables. The study revealed that strategy formulation increases competitiveness in SDA movement to a very great extent and that strategic formulation increase effectiveness of meeting the organization’s goals and objectives and that there is awareness of strategy formulation in SDA movement. The study also revealed that strategy implementation increases competitiveness in SDA movement to a very great extent and that strategic implementation increase effectiveness of meeting the organization’s goals and objectives to a very great extent. The study further revealed that monitoring and evaluation strategy increases competitiveness in SDA movement to a very great extent and that SDA movement undertakes review of the implementation status of the developmental plans and strategy plan reviews. The study recommends that top SDA movement leadership team should be thoroughly involved in gathering information from external environment as well as the internal environment analysis. The external analysis of the organization shows the external operating environment. This analysis should be used to identify strategic opportunities and threats in the SDA’s operating environment. The information should be used to plan effectively for fluctuations that may occur in the SDA so as to remain relevant. SDA movement should have strategic plans which are well written with expert input. The plans should be written in consultation with all stakeholders right from formulation stage to implementation this would bring ownership, acceptance and success. The management of the SDA movement should enhance the strategic planning techniques in order to improve performance.
Key Words: Strategic Planning Practices, Strategic Management, Competitive Advantage, Seventh Day Adventist Movement in Nairobi City County Kenya
URL: https://www.ijcab.org/doi-201800585/ View Full Article
This is an open-access article published and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, United States unless otherwise stated.
About the Authors:
- Edwin Omwoyo– Correspondent Author, School of Business, Kenyatta University, Kenya
- Esther Gitonga– Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya