The Impact of Strategic Thinking on Achieving Strategic Objectives: A Field Study of Leaders and Administrative Employees at the College of Tourism and Hospitality in Misrata.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of strategic thinking on achieving strategic objectives, through a field study of leaders and administrative employees at the College of Tourism and Hospitality in Misrata. The study sought to identify the level of strategic thinking practiced by administrative employees, measure the level of achievement of strategic objectives, and examine the impact of the dimensions of strategic thinking—holistic thinking, abstract thinking, diagnostic thinking, and planning thinking—on achieving strategic objectives.

The study adopted the descriptive-analytical approach and used a questionnaire as the main instrument for data collection. The questionnaire was administered to the entire study population of 30 employees, using a census method. The data were analyzed using arithmetic means, standard deviations, relative importance, correlation coefficients, and coefficients of determination to test the study hypotheses.

The results showed that the overall level of strategic thinking was moderate, tending toward high, with an arithmetic mean of 3.49 and a relative importance of 69.8%. Diagnostic thinking ranked first, with a mean of 3.57 and a relative importance of 71.4%, followed by planning thinking, with a mean of 3.53 and a relative importance of 70.6%. Holistic thinking ranked third, with a mean of 3.47 and a relative importance of 69.4%, while abstract thinking ranked last, with a mean of 3.37 and a relative importance of 67.4%.

The results also indicated that the level of strategic objectives achievement was relatively high, with an arithmetic mean of 3.53, a standard deviation of 0.42, and a relative importance of 70.6%.

Furthermore, the results revealed a statistically significant impact of strategic thinking on achieving strategic objectives, with a correlation coefficient of R = 0.781, a coefficient of determination of R² = 0.610, and a statistical significance value of Sig. = 0.000, which is lower than the adopted significance level of 0.05. This indicates that strategic thinking explains approximately 61.0% of the variance in achieving strategic objectives. The findings also demonstrated a statistically significant impact of each dimension of strategic thinking on achieving strategic objectives. Diagnostic thinking showed the strongest relationship with the achievement of strategic objectives, followed by planning thinking, holistic thinking, and abstract thinking, respectively.

The study concluded that strengthening strategic thinking practices among administrative leaders and employees can contribute to enhancing the College's ability to achieve its strategic objectives and improve its administrative and organizational practices.