Strategic planning issues and their impact on organizational performance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s public sector organizations

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of strategic planning on organizational performance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)’s public sector organizations. Although many studies have been conducted on use of strategic planning in public sector organizations in the Western countries, there is limited research on the impact of strategic planning on public sector performance in the KSA. The research study investigated the impact by developing a framework that combined the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Theory of Reasoned Action (TAR). The framework explained the factors affecting the adoption of strategic planning and its impact organizational performance in KSA. Online questionnaires based on Likert scales were used to collect primary data from employees with good knowledge and experience of using strategic plans in the three public sector ministries, namely the Ministry of Municipal Rural Affairs & Housing, Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services and Ministry of Environment Water & Agriculture. 50 questionnaires was first pre-tested through a pilot study to ensure the validity and reliability of the research instrument. 1600 employees were emailed questionnaires and 421 questionnaires were received. 373 answers were deemed usable for analysis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to perform multivariate regression analysis. Four organizational factors namely goals of the organization, external analysis, internal analysis and implementation) have a significant impact on perceptions of employees towards strategic planning. Social factors namely organizational culture, government policy and external pressure did guide the perceptions of staff. Individual factors, training, incentives and benefits did have a significant impact on perceptions. The results showed that innovativeness, efficiency, profitability, quality and better services had a significant relationship with the usage of strategic planning. The study findings provide a better insight of the different factors that shape perceptions of strategic planning and its impact on government organizations in the KSA.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Supervisor	Majharul Talukder (Supervisor) & Raechel JOHNS (Supervisor)