Abstract
This study examined the organizational and environmental antecedents and performance outcomes of strategic planning practices in 46 federal and state owned universities in Nigeria. We used a multiple – informant survey research method to obtain information on the extent to which the strategic planning practices of the respondent universities conform with established normative criteria of vision and mission development, external environmental analysis, setting of long-term objectives, the development of action plans and implementation guidelines, and the existence of a planning and budget department. The results of the Pearson correlation tests show the universities whose planning practices approximate the ideal strategic planning model respond to external environmental pressure better than those whose practices are distant from the ideal model of strategic planning. The first category of universities also performed better on several indices of performance including goal driven and attainment behavior, priorities setting, fund allocation, external fund acquisition, internal revenue generation, as well as innovation and staff commitment among others. Furthermore, the study found that the size and complexity of a university, the amount of environmental pressure, the rate of internal growth and resource munificence positively and significantly correlated to and are the key factors influencing the strategic planning effort of a university. The study concludes that the use of strategic planning is becoming increasingly recognized by Nigerian public universities and is a response to the shift in the forces in the environment within which the universities are operating. The universities that have adopted this management paradigm appear to be getting value for their efforts enabling them in particular to redefine their vision and mission and to align themselves with the realities of their changed environment and improve their resource allocation process.