Strategic Planning and Organizational Performance in the Iraqi Public Sector: The Mediating Role of Organizational Agility

Public organizations in Iraq face chronic pressures to improve service quality, resource utilization, and responsiveness in a turbulent governance environment. This study examines whether strategic planning (SP) enhances organizational performance (OP) directly and indirectly through organizational agility (OA). Drawing on the dynamic capabilities perspective, we argue that SP strengthens sensing-seizing-reconfiguring routines that constitute OA, which in turn improves OP. Using a cross-sectional, hand-delivered survey of employees across administrative units in Iraqi state ministries (N = 390; reported response rate about 80% over a six-month collection period) and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), we find that SP has a positive effect on OP and a stronger effect on OA. OA positively predicts OP and partially mediates the SP-OP relationship. Measurement model results demonstrate adequate reliability and convergent validity, while discriminant validity is supported using the heterotrait-monotrait ratio (HTMT). Structural model evaluation indicates acceptable collinearity (VIF < 3.3), meaningful effect sizes (f²), moderate explanatory power (R²), and predictive relevance (Q² > 0). We also address common method bias (CMB) through procedural remedies and statistical diagnostics (Harman's single-factor test and full collinearity VIF). The findings contribute to public-sector strategy research by clarifying a capability-based mechanism through which planning translates into performance. Practically, the study provides a roadmap for Iraqi ministries and agencies to convert planning from a ceremonial document into an agility-building system. Organizational agility partially mediates the strategic planning–performance link, implying that leaders should treat planning as an institutional mechanism that builds adaptive capacity. The study therefore offers both a theoretical integration and a practical roadmap for public organizations seeking performance improvement under uncertainty.