This article explores the possibility of reducing elements of strategy in large manufacturing firms (LMFs), in Kenya, to a few basic factors for management to adopt in achieving accuracy of performance forecasting (APF). The objective was to reduce the many aspects of strategic planning elements into very few basic strategic factors that management needs to focus on in the development of strategy for manufacturing organizations. APF is an aspect of manufacturing operations that is seldom derived correctly in many LMFs, in Kenya. However, since LMFs tend to recruit skilled and experienced staff, this survey presumes that the presence of skilled manpower ensures APF in preparing their budgets. Therefore, management in LMFs can consolidate strategic plans into fewer groups to minimize the confusion brought about by a long list of strategic plans that are inherent in LMFs in order to manage operations effectively for APF. The study identified the multiple strategic planning elements used in LMFs and by using factor analysis, reduced these into a smaller number of factors. Factor analysis was done after collecting data using a structured questionnaire administered among randomly selected LMFs, in Kenya. Results of the analysis indicated that elements of strategy can be condensed into five basic factors where the most important strategy is that the planning unit in LMFs is customer specific