Identifying obstacles and challenges in implementation of strategic planning in the higher education system and its effect on organizational innovation

This study aimed to identify the obstacles and challenges to implementation of strategic planning in the higher education system and its effect on organizational innovation.

The present study was applied in terms of purpose and integrated (qualitative-quantitative) in terms of implementation method. In the qualitative part, purposive sampling was used to enroll 30 experts in Khorasan Razavi Province as the Delphi panel participants. In the quantitative part, the study population consisted of all presidents and deputies of universities of Khorasan Razavi Province in the academic year 2019- 2020 (N = 320), among whom 175 individuals were selected as the sample using Cochran’s sample size formula and simple random sampling. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire called obstacles to Strategic Planning, Bryson’s Strategic Planning Implementation Scale (2010), and Organizational Innovation Inventory of Esmail (2002). The face validity of all the tools was confirmed, and their reliability was also confirmed with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.93, 0.91, and 0.94, respectively. Using descriptive and inferential (SEM) statistics, the data were analyzed in SPSS 26 and SmartPLS 24, respectively.

obstacles and challenges to strategic planning were categorized into 5 main categories including individual, organizational, environmental, planning, and managerial obstacles. The structural equation modeling results showed a significant inverse relationship between the identified obstacles and implementation of strategic planning (path coefficient = -0.74). However, a significant positive relationship was found between implementation of strategic planning and organizational innovation (path coefficient = 0.84). (P≤0.5)

Higher education authorities must pay special attention to different intra- and extra-organizational obstacles to properly implement strategic educational plans, and thereby foster various innovations.