Strategic Planning Process And Competitive Positioning Of Deposit-Taking Saccos In Marsabit County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

SACCOs in Kenya have constantly been affected by challenges such as Competition from already established and strong firms, inadequate financial resources that hinder expansion, insufficient technological development as well as unfavourable government policies. SACCOs, therefore, need to place themselves strategically to manage and take advantage of the ever-changing markets as well as tackle all the challenges facing them. These SACCOs have adopted certain strategic planning processes to help them build and maintain a sustainable competitive positioning. This study aimed at determining the effect of the Strategic Planning Process on Competitive Positioning of Deposit-Taking SACCOs in Marsabit County, Kenya. Specifically, the study examined the effect of strategy formulation, strategy implementation, strategy evaluation and control and the competitive positioning of Deposit-Taking SACCOs in Marsabit County, Kenya. The study was anchored on the game theory, contingency theory and goal-setting theory. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study with the target population comprising of 179 top-level management staff of all the SACCOs operating in Marsabit County. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 94 respondents. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires. The research instrument was pretested. The study used both face and content validity to test the validity of the research instrument while the reliability of the research instrument was tested using Cronbach’s alpha (α) coefficient. A coefficient of 0.7 or more was considered adequate in the study. Research data were analysed using descriptive statistics including mean scores, standard deviation and frequencies. Conceptual content analysis was also used to analyse primary data. Further, regression analysis was used to establish the effect of the strategic planning process on competitive positioning among Deposit-Taking SACCOs in Marsabit County. Finally, ethical factors were considered in the study. The study discovered that strategic planning process significantly and positively influenced competitive positioning among Deposit-Taking SACCOs in Marsabit County. It was found out that strategy formulation as a strategic planning process is significantly employed by the firms and has a positive and great effect on their competitive positions. The study also discovered that strategy implementation significantly influenced competitive positioning of the institutions through capacity development, policy and program development, reward structure, resource allocation and periodic strategy review. It was further discovered that strategy evaluation and control had a significant effect on competitive positioning through continuous monitoring and feedback, performance measurement, variance analysis, coming up with corrective action plans and setting performance benchmarks. Therefore the study concluded that strategic planning processes have a positive influence on competitive positioning among Deposit-Taking Saccos. The study recommends that the Deposit-Taking SACCOs need to come up with more ways of planning their strategies, monitoring them and ensuring that they work. The SACCOs need to involve employees and other stakeholders more to promote new ideas and strategies to enhance performance. The study further recommends that the SACCOs need to allocate more resources to strategic management as a key enabler of growth. The institutions also need to have a policy in place to guide strategic management practices, process and approaches. This will enable enhanced strategy formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation all aimed at improving competitiveness.