EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING ON ORGANIZATIONAL GOAL ATTAINMENT

(A STUDY OF ZENITH BANK PLC)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Companies now operate in vastly competitive and non linear environment, the value of business lies increasingly in its ability to capture information and generate new idea. According to (Kotler 2009), “an idea that is no dangerous is hardly worth calling an idea”. The same can be said of strategic plan. A great plan provokes. It takes chances. This eventually attracts customers and the market to ones brand. Therefore there is a need for effective strategy planning in an organization. In today’s competitive environment, every company has a plan, but firstly, we need to understand the concept of strategic planning.

Strategy is an overall approach and plan so strategy planning is an overall planning that facilitates the good management of a process. Strategy planning takes you outsides the day-to-day activities of your organization or project. It provides you with the big picture of what you are doing and where you are going.

Strategy gives you clarity about what you actually want to achieve and how to go achieving it, rather than a plan of action for day-to day operations. 

Strategic planning consists of a set of underlying processes that are intended to create or manipulate a situation to create a more favorable outcome for a company. In business, strategic planning provides overall direction for specific unit such as financial focuses, projects, human resources and marketing.

Strategic planning can be defined as a broad managerial process of developing a vision, mission statement, goals and objectives with which to serve an influential guide to employees using the top bottom management approach (Warmer 2000).

Berry (2001) strategic planning is a tool for finding the best future for your organization and the best path to reach that destination.

Strategic planning can be defined as a process of using systematic criteria and rigorous investigation to formulate, implement and control strategy and formally document organizational expectations.

Strategic planning is an off-short of strategic management and is nowadays referred to as corporate planning.

Strategy management refers to the formulation and implementation of plans and the carrying out of activities. In short, it implies a set of activities relation to the formulation and implementation of strategies to achieve organizational objective.

According to Owolabi (2001), “Strategic management is the management process by which policies are formulated and strategies are selected to achieve the goals and objective of an organization”.

Strategy management is a disciplined approach utilizing the principal and process of management to identify the objective or mission of any business.

Strategic management process as the way in which strategists determine objective and make strategic decision. Strategic management’s main focus is the achievement of organizational goals taking into consideration the internal and external environment factors.

Planning is the process of establishing goals and objective and courses of action to attain them. Thy effective successful strategy is departed in structure, thus to effective economic performance the organization needs to alter it structure.

1.1      STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Many organizations spend many of their time realizing and reacting to unexpected changes and problem instead of anticipating and preparing for them.

Research have made it clear that there is an increased internal and external uncertainty due to emerging opportunities and threats, lack of awareness of needs and of it facilities related issues and environment and lack of direction. This research study is to assess the effect of strategic planning or organizational performance, which at long run enhances organizational goal attainment.

Strategic planning is not only to bank but all other organizations for performance and goal from this scenario several issues rises in respect of strategic planning among which are stated below:

How do we identify factors which are core guide to strategic planning?

What is the effect of strategic planning in achieving organization goal?

What are the factors that led to insufficient attention given to strategic planning in an organization?

1.2      OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective of the study is to examine the effect of strategic planning in achieving organization goal attainment.

The objective is as follow:

1.     To examine the effect of strategic planning in achieving organizational goals.

2.     To examine the relationship between organization performance and goals.

3.     To see how strategic planning influence performance of the business organization.

4.     To examine the potency of strategic planning in the achievement corporate goals and objective.

1.3      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of strategic planning towards achieving organization goal cannot be over emphasized and it reflects the justification of this study.

The finding and conclusion of the research will serve as basis for organization decision on strategic planning. This may also be significant for further research work in strategic planning in achieving organization goals.

1.4.     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.        Does strategic planning enhanced the organization performance?

2.        Are the management or workers ready to achieve the organization goal?

3.        Is strategic planning a tool for organization efficiency and effectiveness?

1.5      RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

Ho:     Strategic planning does not enhance better organizational performance and goal.

H1:      Strategic planning enhances better organizational performance and goal.

Ho:     Strategic planning is not a tool that enhance efficiency and effectiveness in an organization

H1:      Strategic planning is a tool that enhance efficiency and effectiveness in an organization

1.6      SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is to fill the gap by developing and demonstrating the use of an evaluation instrument measuring the effect of strategic planning on organizational effectiveness and culture.

1.7      DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Management: Management in all business and human organization activity is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises of planning, staffing, leading or directing and controlling an organization for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.

Organization: An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, controls its own performance. Organization is understood as planned, coordinated and purposeful action of human beings to construct or compile tangible or intangible product.

Planning: Planning in organization and public policy is both organization process of creating and maintaining a plan and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. It combines forecasting of developments with the preparation of scenarios of how to react to them. 

Performance: Performance management includes activities to ensure that goals are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on performance of organization, a department process to build a product or service, employees etc.

Strategy: Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. The word ‘Strategy’ has military connotation because it derive from the Greek word for general. Strategy is district from tactics. In military terms, tactics is concerned with the conduct of an engagement are linked.