| dc.description.abstract | Drastic and fundamental changes are increasingly occurring in the environment in which firms
operate. An obvious manifestation of the responses towards this turbulent environment has been
mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, downsizing Corporate shake-ups and organizational change which
have become the norm and rather than exception. These changes have presented the firms with
unbearable competitive pressures.
The motivation of the study was the fact that long term success and survival of any organization
especially in a turbulent environment, like the one currently being experienced in Kenya, depends
entirely on how strategically prepared the organization is. Organizations therefore have to implement
and manage change programs to achieve strategic fit within the prevailing environments.
Organizations who successfully manage change are those which have integrated their human resource
management policies with their strategies and the strategic change process. The human resource
management must critically be concerned with the way employees relate to the nature and direction of
the firm, and as such they can both block strategic change and also be significant facilitators of the
very same.
The research focused on analyzing the attention the Kenyan manufacturing firms are giving people
concerns during their change initiatives.
The main objectives investigated during the study were:
1. To establish the people management practices used by large manufacturing firms in Nairobi that
has implemented strategic change.
2. To identify those factors that influence the choice of people management practices 111 within
manufacturing firms in Nairobi.
A sample of 33 respndents was used in the study. The data collected was presented using tables and
analysed using descriptive statistics. Proportions, percentages and modes were used for analysis the
data. The major findings were
Change implementation in the manufacturing firms ignores the important details and use of proper
communication strategies. They underestimate the need to gain behavioral alignment and development
of trust. Organizations don't develop structures to capture and to handle with sensitivity, employee
emotional reactions.
General conclusions drawn are that there is very little awareness of how employees are impacted
emotionally by organizational changes especially those involving loss of jobs. Employers have not felt
the need to assist people handle these emotions.
Recommendations made were that, there must be mechanisms to monitor the employee responses to
organizational change since this has an effect on the employer-employee trust relationship and that
trust is crucial for organizational success. The leaders should address both the emotional and practical
issues through the hard and softer human resource practices. Strategies that provide the opportunity to
build trust and commitment within the newly restructured organization should be used. | en |
