Factors impacting the quality of strategic planning and implementation

M.Phil. (Labour Law and Employment Relations)The purpose of this study is to bring to an end the debate that has been fuelled by the fact that many strategies fail whilst others are not implemented at all or at best only partially implemented. Finding a solution to this burning issue is crucial to all organisations in the current turbulent and volatile business environment. The problems that cause strategic plans failure are categorised by literature into the strategy planning process, a quality strategy, implementation of the strategy as well as the organisation structure and climate. When cause-and-effect is applied to this categorisation, it follows that Process drives Quality which in turn drives rate of success or failure of the implementation of the Strategic Plan. Although it is recognised that there are numerous contextual factors that impact on the successful implementation of a strategic plan, it is postulated that the quality of the strategic plan is core to its success. It therefore follows that a well-conceived and a good quality strategic plan would lead to flawless implementation and a significantly superior performance. The purpose of this study is to confirm this assertion. The research methodology to be followed will be the descriptive quantitative research. A self-administered survey questionnaire will be used to collect data in which the respondents are asked to complete it themselves. The research methodology will enable the researcher to observe, analyse and then interpret what has been observed. The findings of the research confirmed the researcher’s hypothesis. The confirmation is to the effect that a well-conceived and a good quality strategy lead to flawless implementation and organisational competitiveness and effectiveness