The Nexus Between Strategic Planning and Service Delivery Among Agribusiness State Corporations in Kenya

Abstract

In keeping with the New Public Management dispensation, state corporations in Kenya have taken up strategic planning with a view to effect reforms for improved service delivery. Despite this, service delivery in the Agribusiness sub-sector in the country is riddled with inadequacies highlighted by among other complaints, unpaid produce supplies, dwindling finances, slumped agricultural extension services, and low produce prices. The study sought to specifically establish the effect of strategic planning on service delivery among agribusiness state corporations in Kenya. Grounded on the new public management theory, the study adopted the positivism paradigm and the descriptive cross-sectional research design. The study targeted all institutional heads from the 73 state corporations in the agribusiness sub-sector in Kenya. The study mainly employed inferential analysis. It was established from a simple linear regression that strategic planning has a significant and positive influence on service delivery. Based on the findings, it is recommended that policymakers in the country set a minimum budgetary allocation for state corporations directed towards strategic planning. The study also recommends that administrations across state corporations in the country offer administrative support to the departments and staff tasked with the formulation of strategic plans.