Strategic Planning in Higher Education

10. Statistics on the success of strategic planning

Although strategic planning is perceived as the foundation of organizational success, data show that implementation often lags behind planning, as shown below.

• Up to 90 % of strategic plans fail due to poor implementation rather than poor planning [26, 31].
• Similarly, Excitant Consulting reports that 9 out of 10 strategies fail because of a lack of operational control and unclear objectives [30].
• According to a study by In-Parallel Consulting, 95 % of employees do not understand their organization’s strategy [29]. Excitant Consulting places that figure at 90 %.
• Excitant Consulting also notes that the lack of alignment between strategy and operational plans is one of the main causes of failure [30].
• Forbes reports that only 48 % of leaders dedicate at least one day per month to strategic issues [25, 27], even though over 90 % of them believe it is essential [25]. On the other hand, In Parallel Consulting states that 85 % of leaders spend less than one hour per month on strategy [29].
• 61 % of employees in executive roles admit that they struggle to bridge the gap between strategy and execution [29], consuming up to 60 % of available resources.
• Meisterplan shows that organizations that align their resources with strategy are five times more likely to succeed in implementation [32].
• Reliable Plant warns that 68 % of companies do not use project prioritization for strategic alignment, significantly reducing effectiveness [33].
• 48 % of organizations fail to achieve even half of their strategic objectives [27].
• A study conducted in higher education institutions in Libya found that strategic planning explains 53 % of the variance in the quality of educational services. In other words, when strategic planning improves, the quality of educational services increases by more than half of the total improvement [23].
• In an analysis of eight public universities in the United States, only two had a formal system for annual evaluation and revision of strategic goals. Most institutions use the strategic plan more as a formal accreditation document than as a tool for continuous improvement [41].

Although no statistics are currently available for the Croatian context, these figures highlight the importance not only of quality planning but also of effective implementation, evaluation, and communication.