Abstract:
Despite the evident benefits of strategic planning, many schools in Kenya have come up
with strategic plans as directed by the Ministry of Education. There are those who have
successfully accomplished their set objective but some continue to struggle with various
management challenges which affect the implementation of their strategic plans. The
purpose of the study was to investigate determinants of effective implementation of
institutional strategic planning in Eldoret West sub-county public secondary schools;
Uasin Gishu county. The study was guided by the following objectives; to determine the
extent to which leadership influence effective implementation of strategic planning in
public secondary schools, to establish the extent to which financial resource allocation
affects the implementation of strategic planning in public secondary schools and to
determine the influence of policy framework on the effective implementation of
institutional strategic planning. The theory that guided this study was derived from Henry
Fayol’s theory of principles of management. The current study adopted a descriptive
survey design using mixed methodology. The study targeted 53 principals and 724
teachers. Krecjie and Morgan determination formula was used to obtain 276 teachers and
16 principals. The sampling procedures which were used in this research included,
stratified, simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Questionnaires
were used to collect quantitative data from teachers while interviews were used to collect
qualitative information from the principals. The validity of the research instruments was
determined through expert judgment while reliability was obtained through piloting and
use of Croncbach Alpha where a correlation coefficient of 0.79 was obtained on teachers’
questionnaire. Quantitative data was analyzed through the use of frequencies and
percentages and inferential statistics while qualitative data was thematically analyzed.
The study found out a significant positive relationship between leadership r =0.559) and
implementation of strategic plans, a significant strong positive correlation (r = .894; p =
.000) between financial resources and strategic plan implementation and a significant
positive correlation (r = .651; p = .000) between policy framework and strategic plan
implementation in secondary schools. The study recommended that there is need for
secondary school leadership to have the competencies required for effective
implementation of strategic plans. These competencies include idealized characteristics,
inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. In
addition, the study further recommends that there is need for budgeting of available
resources.