Assessment of strategic management practices in government agencies in Tanzania: a case of selected government agencies in Dar es Salaam

The main objective of the study was to assess strategic management practices in government agencies in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam region was used as a case of the study. More specifically the study intended to establish whether government agencies apply strategic management practices, to what extent their strategic goals if any are attainable and to gain an insight on the implementation of the strategic plans. The research employed both quantitative and qualitative methods within descriptive research design to answer the research objective which were narrowed into research questions. The study surveyed 50 government agency staff using questionnaire. In addition interviews, observations and documentary reviews techniques were used to gather information. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel program. The study established that government agencies Strategic Management Goals were not attainable. However the research findings also suggests that to a large extent that strategic management practices were applied in the government agencies as 50% of the respondents declared that their organizations developed strategies to deal with issues. Also the findings indicated that strategic management plans were not effectively implemented, this leads to poor performance in most of the government agencies. Based on the findings, the study recommended that the Government should intervene and support its agencies to ensure effective implementation of their strategic plans and the government agencies should initiate follow-up Management Plan Committees for every department within the organizational structure for monitoring the strategic management plan, by assessing progresses and applying corrective actions in order to attain its goals.