Resource sovereignty and the planning-execution gap: Institutional constraints on strategic management in the defence sector of Zambia

Peter Leonard Daka; Austin Mwange; Francis Simui

doi:10.51867/ajernet.7.2.11

Authors

Peter Leonard Daka The University of Zambia, Zambia https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0540-5548
Austin Mwange The University of Zambia, Zambia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8568-3063
Francis Simui The University of Zambia, Zambia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7199-2970

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.7.2.11

Keywords:

Dynamic Capabilities, Defence Sector, Institutional Theory, Public Financial Management, Resource Sovereignty, Strategic Planning

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between strategic plans integration and resource utilisation effectiveness in the Defence Sector of Zambia. It starts by posing this question: Why does the defence sector of Zambia consistently craft refined strategic plans that fail in execution? Through a mixed-methods investigation involving a structured survey of 135 senior officers (drawn from 171 eligible officers via stratified proportional sampling) and in-depth interviews with 21 purposively selected key informants across the Defence Sector of Zambia, the study documents a remarkable inconsistency. This research was guided by dynamic capabilities and institutional theories. Quantitative data were analysed using Spearman’s rank correlation and descriptive statistics, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase approach. The quantitative results indicate a strong positive association between strategic plan integration and resource allocation planning (Spearman’s ρ=0.635, p < 0.001). This suggests a high planning alignment (cognitive seizing) capacity. However, execution-related ratings remain only slightly above neutral, with low mean scores for timeliness of resource availability (M=3.28, SD=1.05) and efficiency of resource utilisation in daily operations (M=3.22, SD=1.01). Qualitative interviews attributed this planning-execution gap to a resource utilisation bottleneck in which approved strategic budgets face delayed disbursement, rigid procurement controls, and operational tempos that outpace central public financial management processes. Because the evidence is cross-sectional and largely perceptual, the findings should be interpreted as strong associations and convergent institutional explanations rather than definitive causal effects. Zambia’s fiscal volatility compels the Treasury to treat defence strategic capital as expendable fiscal buffers for short-term crises. This study advances Dynamic Capabilities Theory by showing how institutional environments in developing economies constrain the transition from a seizing-to-transforming pathway. This study introduces the concept of resource sovereignty, which is the institutional capacity to shield mission-critical budgets from political interference. This is a necessary statutory mechanism and a reliable governance solution for African defence sectors facing fiscal volatility. Without it, defence organisations remain perpetual good planners but inconsistent executors. This also undermines SDG 16 on institutional effectiveness goals. The study concludes that the resource utilisation bottleneck is an external institutional failure rooted in fiscal volatility, IFMS rigidity, and budget-cash decoupling. This is not an internal planning weakness. This study recommends statutory budget protection and financial system decentralisation as complementary resource sovereignty mechanisms to enable consistent strategic execution in the defence sector of Zambia.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Andrews, M. (2013). The limits of institutional reform in development: Changing rules for realistic solutions. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139108393 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139060974

Banda, C. T. (2022). Evaluating the implementation of components of a performance management system in the Zambian public service: A case of the Development Bank of Zambia. Texila International Journal of Academic Research, 9(3). https://doi.org/10.21522/tijar.2014.09.03.art014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21522/TIJAR.2014.09.03.Art014

Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108

Béraud-Sudreau, L., & Giegerich, B. (2018). NATO defence spending and European threat perception. Survival, 60(4), 53-74. https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2018.1495429 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00396338.2018.1495429

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa DOI: https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Chabala, S., & Nyirenda, S. N. (2025). Institutional challenges impeding the effective implementation of health sector devolution in Lusaka Province. Journal of Business and Economics in 4IR, 2(3).

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2018). Designing and conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101

Eisenhardt, K. M., & Martin, J. A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: What are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21(10-11), 1105-1121. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0266(200010/11)21:10/11<1105:AID-SMJ133>3.0.CO;2-E DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0266(200010/11)21:10/11<1105::AID-SMJ133>3.0.CO;2-E

Erbel, M., & Kinsey, C. (2018). Think again-supplying war: Reappraising military logistics and its centrality to strategy and war. Journal of Strategic Studies, 41(4), 519-544. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2015.1104669 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2015.1104669

Gerrish, E. (2016). The impact of performance management on performance in public organisations: A meta-analysis. Public Administration Review, 76(1), 48-66. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12433 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12433

Glas, A. H., Hofmann, E., & Eßig, M. (2020). Performance-based logistics: A portfolio for contracting military supply. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 50(3), 335-355. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-01-2019-0030

Government of the Republic of Zambia, Ministry of Finance and National Planning. (2023). Budget report. https://www.mofnp.gov.zm

Hartley, K. (2012). The economics of defence policy: A new perspective. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203838778 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203838778

Khanna, T., & Palepu, K. G. (2010). Winning in emerging markets: A road map for strategy and execution. Harvard Business Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974173920100316 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0974173920100316

Lundberg, A., & Rova, E. (2022). Management reforms in the defence sector. Defence and Peace Economics, 33(4), 454-474. https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2021.1888014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10242694.2021.1888014

Malisase, R. (2016). Public sector reforms' contribution to poor public service delivery in Zambia: Poor implementation or defective programmes. ZANGO: Zambia Journal of Contemporary Issues, 32, 59-76. http://journal.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/297

Markowski, S., Hall, P., & Wylie, R. (2009). Defence procurement and industry policy: A small country perspective. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203013694 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203013694

Mate, K. (2006). Balanced scorecard implementation in the Zambian public service (Working Paper No. 2006/12). Public Service Management Division, Cabinet Office. Government of the Republic of Zambia.

Meyer, J. W., & Rowan, B. (1977). Institutionalized organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83(2), 340-363. https://doi.org/10.1086/226550 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/226550

Mubanga, A., & Lesa, C. N. (2024). Evaluation of factors influencing the implementation of strategic plans in public universities: A case of the Copperbelt University. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2024.142007 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2024.142007

Mwanza, P., & Dar, J. A. (2025). The role of strategy implementation practices on performance in public sector organisations. Africa's Public Service Delivery & Performance Review, 13(1), a891. https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v13i1.891 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/apsdpr.v13i1.891

Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2013). Coloniality of power in postcolonial Africa: Myths of decolonisation. CODESRIA.

Nkomo, S. M. (2011). A postcolonial and anti-colonial reading of "African" leadership and management in organization studies: Tensions, contradictions, and possibilities. Organization, 18(3), 365-386. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508411398731 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508411398731

Nkomo, S. M. (2015). Challenges for management and business education in a "developmental" state: The case of South Africa. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14(2), 242-258.

https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2014.0323 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2014.0323

North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678

Omitoogun, W., & Hutchful, E. (Eds.). (2006). Budgeting for the military sector in Africa: The processes and mechanisms of control. Oxford University Press.

Pritchett, L., Woolcock, M., & Andrews, M. (2013). Looking like a state: Techniques of persistent failure in state capability for implementation. Journal of Development Studies, 49(1), 1-18.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2012.709614 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2012.709614

Schick, A. (2014). The metamorphoses of performance budgeting. OECD Journal on Budgeting, 13(2), 49-79. https://doi.org/10.1787/budget-13-5jz2jw9szgs8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/budget-13-5jz2jw9szgs8

Schilke, O., Hu, S., & Helfat, C. E. (2018). Quo vadis, dynamic capabilities? A content-analytic review and future research agenda. Academy of Management Annals, 12(1), 390-439.

https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0014

Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319-1350. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640

Teece, D. J. (2014). The foundations of enterprise performance: Dynamic and ordinary capabilities in an economic theory of firms. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(4), 328-352. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2013.0116 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2013.0116

Teece, D. J. (2020). Hand in glove: Open innovation and the dynamic capabilities framework. Strategic Management Review, 1(2), 233-253. https://doi.org/10.1561/111.00000010 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1561/111.00000010

UK National Audit Office. (2018). The defence equipment plan 2018-2028 (HC 1519). The Stationery Office. http://www.nao.org.uk/reports/the-defence-equipment-plan-2018-to-2028/

Zollo, M., & Winter, S. G. (2002). Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organization Science, 13(3), 339-351. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.13.3.339.2780 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.13.3.339.2780

Zoogah, D. B., Peng, M. W., & Woldu, H. (2015). Institutions, resources, and organisational effectiveness in Africa. Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(1), 7-31. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2012.0033 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2012.0033