Relationship between Selected Strategic Planning Practices and Performance in Water Management Sector: A Case Study of Companies under Athi Water Works Development Agency in Kenya

Abstract

The general objective of the study was to establish the relationship between selected strategic planning practices and performance in water management sector: a case study of water and sewerage companies under Athi Water Works Development Agency in Kenya. The specific objective of the study was to determine the effect of goal setting, strategic resource allocation, strategic collaborations and strategic monitoring on performance in all companies managed by Athi Water Works Development Agency in Kenya.  The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population included three senior officials in each of the thirteen (13) water and sewerage service providers (WSPs) under management of Athi Water Services Board. In total 47respondents participated in the study out of 66 that were targeted. On goal setting, the findings indicated that the average mean was 3.656 indicating that majority of respondents were of the opinion that goal setting affected performance in the water sector. Majority respondents also felt that strategic resource allocation affected performance (3.799). Most respondents as indicated by the overall mean of 3.872 were of the view that strategic collaborations influenced performance in the water sector. Most respondents as indicated by the overall mean of 3.0702 were neutral on whether strategic monitoring influenced performance. Most respondents were in agreement that performance had improved in the water company. Further while strategic resource allocation, strategic collaborations and   strategic monitoring were significantly correlated with performance (p<0.05), the relationship between goal setting, and performance was not significant at p<0.05 but significant at p<0.1 <significantly. The strongest correlation was between strategy monitoring and performance. Further only strategic monitoring had a significant influence on performance at p<0.05 while the influence of goal setting was significant at p<0.1. However strategic collaboration and strategic resource allocation had no significance on strategy implementation. It is therefore re recommended that water companies Prioritize strategic planning practices in an effort to attain better performance.

Keywords: Goal Setting, Strategic, Resource Allocation, Collaborations and Monitoring