STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES AND ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF KENYA MEDICAL TRAINING COLLEGE
Jotham Miyawa Munala - Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Evans Mwasiaji (PhD) - Lecturer, Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Effective strategy implementation is considered critical towards the achievement of institutional objectives by facilitating better organizational performance for long-term sustainability. In Kenya, state owned corporations such as the Kenya Medical Training College continue to perform below stakeholder expectations, and over rely on the exchequer for budget support, resulting in loss of viability and inability to effectively deliver on its core mandate. Numerous studies on corporate strategy have reported a correlation between poor strategy implementation practices and underperformance in many commercial and not for profit organizations. This study therefore sought to examine strategic leadership and effective communication during strategy implementation and its effect on organizational performance at the Kenya Medical Training College. Through extensive review of extant literature, the Balanced Scorecard, Institutional and Agency theories were chosen to anchor this study. The study adopted descriptive research design in line with the general objective of the study, while census method was used to enroll the study participants. The unit of analysis was the Kenya Medical Training College, while the unit of observation was 84 senior managers at the college. Relevant data generated using likert scale type questionnaire were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 26. The study results were presented using descriptive statistics. Multiple linear regression was used to test for association between variables, and statistics set at p< 0.05 at a confidence level of 95%. The study revealed that both strategic leadership and effective communication were positively associated with organizational performance at the Kenya Medical Training College. However, only effective communication (p-Value = 0.031) was deemed to have a statistically significant influence on organizational performance. The position taken by this study is that continuous effective communication is critical during strategy formulation and implementation process for the purpose of facilitating the realization of the set organizational performance objectives. This study therefore recommends that the Chief Executive Officer at the Kenya Medical Training College should sensitize managerial position holders and support staff on proposed future changes, and persuade all key stakeholders to adopt behaviour compatible to the desired strategic change. The Chief Executive Officer should also actively involve staff in the change process, while simultaneously reducing time lag in communication within, between and among campuses and college headquarters. The expected study output is effective strategy implementation, enhanced service delivery and improved organizational performance.