Abstract:
Firms are open systems that interact with their environment and are affected by environmental changes. this study was conducted to find out the effect of socio-cultural environment on strategic planning in insurance companies in nakuru cbd. the objectives of the study were to determine the effect of the population demographics on strategic planning, effect of class structure factors on strategic planning and effect of cultural factors on strategic planning. a correlational survey research design was adopted for the study. the target population was all the 21 insurance companies in nakuru cbd. census study was conducted for all the 21 insurance companies. primary data was collected using close-ended questionnaires. the respondents were managers who are involved in strategic planning in the insurance companies. data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. the results of the analysis were presented using charts and tables. the results revealed that perception of socio-cultural environment affects strategic planning in the firms. the findings also revealed that cultural factors had the greatest effect on strategic planning, followed by population demographics then the least was class structure factors. since the results revealed that there was a positive relationship between socio-cultural environment and strategic planning, strategic planning managers need to align their strategic planning to the socio-cultural environmental factors.
