Strategic Management Processes and Performance of Agro Processing of Small and Medium-Term Enterprises in Uganda

Abstract

This study sought to establish the contribution of strategic management practices on performance of Agro processing firms in Lira City. Specifically, the study focused on establishing the effect of strategic formulation on the performance of Agro processing firms in Lira City, assessing the effect of implementation on the performance of Agro processing firms in Lira City and examining the effect of evaluation on the performance of Agro processing firms in Lira City. The study targeted all Agro processing SMEs in Lira City approximately 620 in number and it focused on the key stakeholders; the general manager, the accountant and the production manager of which 234 owners and managers were sampled using simple random sampling from the construction firms. The study employed multiple regression analysis to analyze contribution of strategic management practices on performance of Agro processing firms in Lira City. The finding of the study revealed that that evaluation and control (p<0.001, β₌0.369), and strategic implementation (p<0.001, β₌0.428) are significant predictors of SME performance. However, jointly evaluation and control, strategic implementation and strategic formulation explain 37.8% variation of all the possible factors that are likely to account for SME performance in Lira City (Adjusted R2= 0.378). The study recommends that the management of all SMEs to ensure that their organizations adopt strategic management process by carrying out accurate situation analysis, involvement of all level employees in strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. Keywords:Strategic planning, Innovation, Networking opportunities, Youth-owned enterprises, Growth, Market competitiveness