Functional level strategy and performance of the ministry of agriculture Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the types of functional strategies within the Ministry of Agriculture and to establish the contribution that these functional level strategies have on the performance of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kenya. The study was carried out since there was no similar study that had been done on functional level strategy at the Ministry. The researcher noted this gap and therefore sought to bridge the same. The study employed a case study research design since the unit of analysis was one organization. Yin (1994) argued that a case study allowed an investigation to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real life events. It involved an indepth investigation of the functional level strategies at the Ministry of Agriculture. An interview guide was used to enable the researcher gain a better understanding and also enable a more insightful interpretation of the results from the study. Content analysis was used to interpret and represent the findings of the study. The study established that the Ministry of Agriculture actually had functional strategies at almost all the departments interviewed except two. This therefore meant that the organization identified the important role that functional strategies played in improving the organizations performance and hence achievement of its set goals. This therefore led to the conclusion that the Ministry was able to enjoy good performance due to certain strategic management tools being in place and one of these tools was functional level strategy.