Change Management Strategies and Institutional Success at Mount Kenya University

Abstract

Change management is an approach that organizations normally adopt to enhance their performance. It can be defined as the method of promoting and steering improvement in an organization through enhancement of directions and capabilities for better organizational performance. There are four strategies under change management and they include Empirical- Rational, Normative-Re-educative, Power-Coercive, and Environmental-Adaptive Strategies. This study sought to explore the change management strategies and institutional success at Mount Kenya University, and was anchored on the three theories namely; the institutional theory, structure follows strategy theory, and the resource-based theory. In order to conduct the research, case study research design was applied. The study relied on primary data and to obtain this, interviews and a focus discussion were conducted, with eleven heads of departments from the eleven schools/divisions of Mount Kenya University targeted as the interview respondents. Out of the number targeted, six of them were interviewed individually and also engaged in a focus discussion. The data collected was analyzed using content analysis. The findings and conclusion were that the four strategies were applied concurrently but at different case in points and this led to success of the institution. It was also found out that the other strategies such as restructuring and kaizen strategies were applied and consequently led to the success of the institution. There was as well the existence of the research and quality assurance departments which facilitated success through innovation and ensuring quality standards are met. The institution’s success was measured in terms of improved standards of services, recognition of the national and international levels, upgrading of lecturers, increased number of graduates, wider coverage beyond both the county and national boundaries and better management control of both staff and students. In line with these findings, the study recommends the need for more research to be conducted based on other higher learning institutions. The study also recommends the use of different research designs while conducting research as this supports the making of comparisons of the change management strategies at different institutions and consequently determine the strategies’ influence on the success of the institutions.