STRATEGIC PLANNING IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES: A DEVELOPING COUNTRY PERSPECTIVE

Purpose - The study sought to carry out a comparative evaluation of strategic planning in public universities in Ghana and to examine the flexibility of the resulting strategic plans in the face of emerging challenges.Methodology - It adopted a multi-stage and stratified sampling method to select three public universities in Ghana; using a self-administered questionnaire. In all 150 questionnaire were administered and 100 were received for analysis, giving a return rate of about 66%. Findings – the results indicate that the nature, form, and sophistication of information and communication technology (ICT) use influenced successful implementation of strategic plans for two public universities. Other results suggested that members of staff perceived strategic planning to be the responsibility of top management; thus, there is little ownership and commitment by academic and other stakeholders.