Management Practices And Implementation Of Strategic Change In Selected Government Ministries In Kenya

ABSTRACT

Strategic change management entails thoughtful planning, sensitive implementation and

above all consultation with, and involvement of the people affected by the change.The

purpose of this study was to assess the management practices and implementation of strategic

change at selected Government Ministries in Kenya.This study was guided by the following

specific objectives; to determine the extent to which organizational structure influences

strategic change implementation; to examine the relationship between employee

empowerment and strategic change implementation; to ascertain the influence of top

management commitment on strategic change implementation and to find out how

organization communication affect strategic change implementation at selected Kenyan

Government Ministries.

This study adopted a descriptive and explanatory research design and the population of the

study was 340 top and middle level employees at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation,

Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Devolution and Planning. This researcher employed

census survey, which means all the 340-top level and middle level employees at the Ministry

of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Devolution and Planning

were the respondents for the study. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire while

secondary data was obtained from relevant publications and literature review from libraries.

Data was tabulated and analyzed for using SPSS version 21 software. A higher Cronbach

Alpha of 0.938 was achieved compared to the 0.7 which the study benchmarked against.

Data was presented using tables, and pie charts to make them reader friendly. Inferential

statistics were also used to develop a straight-line predictor model.

The study revealed that; to enhance strategic change implementation success, organizations

must select the right people for key positions. Additionally, the current organizational

structure in the ministries enhanced institutional effectiveness. Further the study indicated

that there is need for training of staff across the board on the changes to be made and the

implementation process. The study concluded that some of the departments in the three

Ministries had a good organizational structure which enabled and facilitated strategy

implementation. This in turn improved efficiency of communication from the top to lower

level staff. The major conclusion from the research findings is that there is need for

empowering the supervisory staff to ensure that the lower staff members are on board with

the strategy as well as to retain the staff. It is recommended that the ministries should

continue to streamline the organization structure and design as per function so that the

strategic change can effectively be implemented. The lower and supervisory levels need to be

sufficiently empowered so that they can assist to cascade the strategy downwards. There

should be rewarding of the staff based on their contribution towards the implementation of

strategies. The ministries and their departments should put in place measures for tracking

down staff progress, facilitating learning and decision making in a quick manner and

therefore increase the chances of achieving the organisation objectives. Managers should

provide a clear vision that governs change in the organization. Leadership should be

committed to effectively make change in public sector. This involves use of effective and

open communication and capacity building: training of statistics in order to build consensus

to support management.