Abstract

Strategic planning is a tool that determines the destiny of an individual, institution or organization. Globally, competition defines strategies encompassed by institutions due to industrial economy that had been experienced to pass toward knowledge resource. Efficiency is achieved by successful utilization of resources. Organisations seek a more competitive edge at all costs and turn to more innovations in information technology. Effective measures provide decision makers with feedback on the effect of deliberate actions and influence critical decisions such as resources allocations, as well as appropriate action as may be necessary. This study was carried out in Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) to determine how strategic human resource influence the performance of agricultural research organisations. It was anchored on the theory of transformational leadership theory. Information on whether research organisations apply strategic human resource planning in management was scarce. This was partly due to the little attention that was drawn on quality of services offered and feedback. Although there had been previous international studies in this field, no similar work had been conducted in agricultural-based research organisations in Kenya. This study therefore sought to establish whether strategic human resource planning could influence performance in agricultural research organizations. Survey research design was used. The study comprised of four agricultural research institutes. The Institutes had a total of 2922 employees in 2016. A structured questionnaire was administered to collect primary data. A pilot test was conducted on 10% of the total respondents to test reliability and validity. Reliability of the instrument was determined by use of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The Pearson’s product moment correlation was used to establish test for linearity using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, (SPSS 2018), while Analysis of Variance was used to test hypothesis. Results showed that strategic human resource management contributes to increased agricultural research performance in KALRO institutes. It is recommended that the findings of this study be embraced by other agricultural research institutions in Kenya.

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