The impact of strategy alignment on organisational performance in national public entities in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa

Abstract

Background: South African national public entities play a significant role in the economy as they assist government to achieve the public service delivery mandate. However, these entities are facing numerous problems and challenges including a misalignment between corporate (i.e. government department) and business strategies of business units. The impact these problems and challenges have on organisational performance and hence service delivery, and why the misalignment exists are not known. Hence, this study was intended to fill this gap. Aim: This study was intended to analyse the extent of misalignment or alignment between corporate- and business-level strategies and the resulting impact on organisational performance in schedule 3 public entities in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa (SA). Setting: The public sector entities at the local, provincial and/or national level, in terms of culture, legal framework, structure, linkages and, especially, performance as it relates to the topic, political dynamics. Method: The survey design and the multicase study design with mixed methods (i.e. qualitative and quantitative methods) were applied. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 38 randomly selected executives of public entities and provincial government, and in-depth interviewing was used to collect qualitative data. Multiple regression and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. Results: It was found that a misalignment between the corporate- and business-level strategies in SA public entities caused by, amongst others, lack of capacity and ineffective communication, negatively affects the strategy implementation, hence causing service delivery problems. Conclusion: The misalignment between the corporate- and business-level strategies affects the strategy implementation, hence affecting the service delivery negatively. This gap should be minimised by addressing the problems and challenges faced by the public entities such as lack of human resources capacity and ineffective communication in order to enhance organisational performance.