| dc.description.abstract | Major changes took place in both the strategy and structure in the Energy Sector in Kenva
over the ten years from 1995 to end 2005. From the mid 1990s tile Government or Kenya
commenced with a strategy to among others attract investors in to the electricity sub-sector
and promote efficiency in the power sector as a whole by segregating the generation business
from the transmission, distribution and customers service together with improving assets
ownership and management that was to be achieved through the energy sector reform. The
reforms or strategies were accompanied by sector structural changes.
On the on-set one would have concluded that structure followed the strategy. However.
macro-strategies were expressed and placed on tile drawing board and consultations
continued to attest to what extent they would accommodate acceptable and workable
structures. This study sought to determine the relationship between changes in the structure
and strategies and the processes in Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), ami further
to establish the factors and or agents that influenced the relationship. Two similar earlier
studies were carried out in Kenya on the structure strategy relationship. Matscshc (1999) and
Mwang! (200]) whose studies were ou nianulacturing industries ill the private sector
concluded that strategy and structure were reciprocal. Mwangi (2003) further concl udcd that
in multinational pharmaceutical manufacturing companies no change in one led to change in
the other.
This was a case study that involved in-depth interviews with the management team of KPI ,C,
and the Ministry or Energy covering the processes that took place two in continuous
consecutive periods: from late I<)<)5 to around 19<)<), and 2000 to 2005. The periods are
separately significant ill that an organizational configuration that is composed of" processes,
structures, and boundaries and relationships were very different in that the environmental
demands from KPLC increased and crystallized progressively in the two periods as time
.passed, including increased environmental complexities.
During the earlier period the management struggled in maintaining the traditional KPLC
structure intact with minimal incremental changes, ill spite or the major changes in strategy
that had taken place. It was the period that market-oriented strategy was intimated as
opposed to the then existing public-utility-oriented strategy. Two clear phenomenons were
observed that abated company structures lagging after strategy changes: considering KPLC is
a monopoly. it was observed that organizational efficiency was not a priority. as there was
not enough incentive to change because under zero-sum competition, performance
inefficiencies are transferred to the customer. Thus the classical view that structure must
follow strategy appears basically simplistic because other conditions like managerial control
and cultures, monopolistic security and uninformed electricity customers contributed greatly
towards the lag.
As the KPLC number of transactions increased and as the complexity of internal
relationships grew over time, the company was progressively adopting structures that
facilitated better and acceptable interactions with the environment. This phenomenon was
observed in the period from 2000 to 2005. The organizational structures started to gravitate
towards relatively organic type or structure by being more flexible to customer and
stakeholders needs through sharing responsibility and increased influence delegated at lower
managerial levels through adopted business restructuring. This was evidenced in the
structures and strategies that were implemented partly to resol vc uncertainties emanating
from the new environment. Interlink between the strategy and structure was observed wi th
lesser lags compared to earlier periods. | en |
