Strategic Responses to Changes in the Legal Framework by the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Board in Kenya

Abstract

Legal, political, socio-economic, environmental and technological forces affect the operations of organizations in diverse ways. They form the external environment of the organization which is dynamic and affects the performance of an organization. The current study sought, therefore, to answer the question: What are the strategic responses by the National Government Constituency Development Fund Board to changes in the legal framework in Kenya? Guided by the institutional, game, and new public management theories, the objective of the study was to determine how the National Government Constituencies Development Fund Board responds to changes in the legal framework in Kenya. The study used a case study because of it is appropriate to carry out qualitative analysis which gives in depth data. The study used an interview guide as a data collection instrument, and the same was constructed to give a short background of the organization, followed by more detailed exploration. Data collected from the interview was analyzed using content analysis method. Emerging themes from the interview were identified and presented in narrative form to try and bring out the strategic responses that have been adopted by the NG-CDF in Kenya. It determined that there were diverse legal changes that impacted the operations of the NGCDF, and that various strategic response mechanisms had been developed by the Board. The management of human resources had been reorganized to align with the changes, more so in the Leadership and Integrity, as well as the Public Officer Ethics Acts. The interviewees concurred that the processes on recruitment, selection, and placement of human resources had gone through major changes to meet the requirements set by the Acts. The employees were competitively recruited, and selected in accordance with the requirements of the law. The study also determined that the Board had developed various internal control systems to facilitate compliance with the Public Finance Management Act. In this regard, the Board developed more approval layers for payments above a given threshold. This, according to one interviewee, would help spread the risk of fraud and enhance compliance with the Act. The Board sensitized the key personnel in the management of the IFMIS in the organizations including the security measures. The study further established that the Board had embarked on a series of training for her procurement officers, and Fund Managers to enhance compliance with the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act. This Board also facilitated the relevant officers to comply with the legal requirements by empowering them to make decisions and stand by those decisions without undue influence and political patronage. However, the study recommends descriptive studies, including examination of control variables such as moderation and mediation effects on strategic responses and organizational performance, since that was not within the scope of the current study.