An assessment of the effectiveness of the strategic formulation process at Safeguard (Pvt) LTD 2006 - 2011

Abstract

The study sought to asess how Safeguard formulâtes its stratégies and to establish the effectiveness of strategy formulation at the organisation. The objectives of the study were to establish the effectiveness of strategy formulation process at Safeguard and to determine the factors influencing the effectiveness of the strategic formulation process. The sample population was 60 comprising of board members, management and staff. The study utilized the stratified random sampling method in the selection of the respondents to ensure representativeness of the sample. The research was positivist in that a survey was carried out using one systematic and structured questionnaire administered to board, staff and management of Safeguard. This research utilized the survey design method because according to Robinson (1995), it allows for a collection of standardized information from a specific population. The questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument because of its applicability to the survey research design. The study concluded that there is top down approach in the way strategies are formulated at Safeguard. That is the management and board only impose strategies to the employees and also they do not consult or even get ideas from the employees. The strategy implementation at Safeguard is poor since employees are not consulted and hence they tend to sabotage the management effort. Strategy formulation at Safeguard is not tailored to the current organizational needs of the organisation. The study recommended that strategy formulation process should involve everyone so that those implementing the strategies feel they are an integral part of the process and would become committed in carrying them out. For good strategy to be effective it should be formulated by people who clearly understand what needs to be done, and who know the problems of executing short and long range plans. This therefore means that line managers from several levels of the organization must work with corporate staff to formulate strategy. The study presented an area of further study to assess the impact of employee involvement in the strategy formulation process.