Stakeholders involvement on implementation of strategic plans in higher learning institutions: a case of Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, Tanzania

The strategic management process involves not only strategy formulation and but also strategy implementation. Higher education institutions in Tanzania are experiencing difficulties of dwindling of financial resource from the government. They are also committed to expanding and consolidate its services because of both increased demands of highly skilled work force in technical education. In order to respond to the global competing environment, higher education institutions must develop strategic plans that effectively, actively and involve all stakeholders in all their business in order to accomplish their goals. An important lesson learned from the design and implementation of the strategic planning process around the world is that stakeholder involvement is the primary determinant of the success of many organizations. Contextually, the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and other higher learning institutions should include all stakeholders in their day-to-day activities since their involvement is a primary determinant of their success. Since its establishment, the DIT have implemented two strategic plans. Regardless of the established objectives and targets to guide of all stakeholders some inconsistencies likely to have occurred in either planning or implementation side. The aim of this study was to assess the contribution of stakeholder involvement on implementation of strategic plans in higher learning institutions. This was a qualitative case study where data collected by document review, in-depth interview, focus group discussion and participant observation. The data obtained was analysed by the inductive approach using thematic content analysis. The study found that various stakeholders, especially those involved in managerial and administration were involved in the planning and implementation of the strategic plan at different stages, albeit this was not necessary for the technical and lower carder stakeholders. In addition, the study found that proper application of a wide range of communication channels was potentially used as it helped to reach a large number of stakeholders. They also help to connect different stakeholders with the vital role for organization with those who directly implement the strategies. The study concluded that stakeholder involvement in the planning process have a positive influence on successful implementation of strategic plans at DIT. The study recommended that although the DIT have successfully implemented its strategies, there is a need of employing participation strategies that will help to spell out clearly planning process, employ efficient communication for sharing information to all stakeholders and employ monitoring and evaluation system to track progress of activities. The limitation encountered in this study was that, some key informants had limited time to be interviewed as they had other duties and responsibilities assigned by the institutional management, which were needed to be accomplished, while others were not conversant with the strategic plan. This study recommends further studies to be carried on the factors, which influence stakeholder involvement in the successful implementation of strategic plans at higher learning institutions of Tanzania, or factors, which lead to success or failure of strategic implementation in higher learning institutions of Tanzania. The study also, recommends a similar study be done to other higher learning institution for comparison purposes.