Change Management Practices and the Performance of Turnkey Africa Kenya Ltd

Abstract

The currency of the environment in which organizations exist in, is one characterised by long periods of rapid change with interim periods of stability that seldom exist anymore. This fast paced environmental changes led to the rise of complex and chaotic work environments, change management as we know it is fast changing and so are the organizations that are affected by the market place changes. All these changes converge on the background of the need for organizations to not only keep up and survive but thrive through growth to industry leadership. Turnkey Africa Kenya Limited is no exception to this predicament the resultant effect, is the undertaking of crucial changes in order for the internal to update and align to the external environment. To achieve this the organization must adopt a set of change management best practices and within its context apply them in order to meet its change objectives as well as short term and long-term desired business outcomes. As such, the study’s objective was to determine the change management practices adopted by Turnkey Africa Kenya Limited. For this, a case study research design was adopted by the study. This involved the collection of qualitative data both secondary and primary, through detailed interviews based on the interview guide and a review of the organization’s policies, communication data as well as process documentation. The study focused on ten change management practices, that were confirmed to exist within the organization following the feedback from the respondents. The study findings revealed that leadership, communication, company vision, company culture, employee empowerment, organizational learning, change planning, employee wellbeing, stakeholder engagement and teamwork had been adopted by the organization. The study noted that there were merits and demerits in all these practices with some having been better executed and others adversely affected by lack of processes around them hence inconsistencies in practice hence the lack of sustenance in the change programs and an overarching negative effect to business objectives. Experimental and experiential organizational learning, a communal culture, hands on leadership and a multi channelled communication approach were some of the merits identified. On the flip side, the lack of proper planning, immature processes, lack of consistent stakeholder engagement, competing interests between current business needs and change needs, the absence of or lack of proper allocation of resources and the absence of knowledge both on change management specific as well as niche technical software development are among the demerits or challenges faced by the organization. The study concludes that while Turnkey Africa Kenya Limited, has adopted a number of change management practices, and while it has been able to have a number of wins and positive outcomes, it is still far from having mature processes that will allow it to operate at the best practice level. If it’s to succeed the organization has to deliberately identify and institute a culture that complements its vision, proactively centre the people agenda to its planning and leverage on organizational learning to bridge the strategy – execution gap