Strategic Planning and Organizational Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Rivers State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of strategic planning on organizational performance. As a cross-sectional analysis, the examined the effect of strategic planning, as manifested in environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation and evaluation and control on the indexes of performance (which market share and innovations were used as indexes). We focused on manufacturing firms in Port Harcourt, as stratified random and convenience sampling methods were used to sample 374 employees. Questionnaire structured in two parts and design to reflect Likert 5-point scale was used in gathering information. We assessed this relationship using descriptive and inferential methods, as the Pearson correlation method was used to test the hypothesized relationships. As suggested by the result, strategic planning, manifested by the dimensions used, enhance organization performance. Given this reality, management of the manufacturing firms should adopt strategic planning to enhance performance. By gathering information through environmental analysis, manufacturing firms can be able to determine the direction to take and understand the business opportunities and understand their internal competencies.