Challenges of strategy implementation at the university of Nairobi
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Date
2012Author
Nyariki, Kennedy N
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Organizations prepare very excellent strategies which in most cases are never
implemented for various reasons. Translating strategic thought into organization action is
the most difficult phase of strategic management and without successful implementation
of strategies the organization will not achieve its objectives. The main purpose of this
study was to establish the challenges of strategy implementation at the University of
Nairobi and also to determine the measures taken to deal with these challenges. The study
was modeled for a case study design which is a qualitative analysis involving a careful
and complete observation of data. The case study allowed an investigation to retain the
holistic and meaningful characteristics of real life events. The study used both primary
and secondary data where primary data was collected by use of face to face interview
between the researcher and the respondents. On the other hand, secondary data was
obtained from University of Nairobi documents such as the strategic plan, service charter,
performance contracts, ISO certification documents annual reports and annual
performance evaluations. The data was qualitatively analyzed using content analysis
techniques in order to give in-depth findings of the study. The information was evaluated
and analyzed to determine its usefulness, credibility, consistency and adequacy. In coding
qualitative data the researcher read all the responses, identified key information and
related it to emerging patterns. The outcome was then compared in order to get more
revelation on challenges of strategy implementation at the University of Nairobi. The
findings provided an insight on how public universities should carry out a successful
strategy implementation. The study found that some aspects of culture, structure, unsound
reward systems, and insufficient communication are some of the major challenges faced
by the University of Nairobi in its strategy implementation. Other challenges include;
resistance to change, poor strategy leadership, existing policies and procedures and the
external environment. It was established that the University of Nairobi has a five years
strategic plan (2008-2013), which laid down four main goals and sets four objectives to
be achieved within the planed period. They include; providing facility for university
education, participating in the discovery, transmission and preservation of knowledge,
conducting examinations and granting academic awards. It was further established that
the University of Nairobi adopts a formal strategic planning process which involves
members of the management team with other members of staff being represented by
respective trade unions. The study further found out that the formality adopted by the
university in its strategic planning resulted into a strategic document (strategic plan),
whose time horizon is five years. Various methods were found to be used by the
university in its strategy implementation. They include, change management, carrying out
training for staff, improving on information technology, and culture change among
others. Conclusions were drawn and specific recommendations made Overall findings
showed that University of Nairobi has been effective in implementing its strategies. If
adopted findings of this study will help organizations to manage their strategies as well as
successfully implement them. Among the recommendations were; the university involves
all its staff in strategy implementation to encourage ownership, Management avails
resources needed for strategy implementation, identify strategy critical value chain as
well as focusing on a lean, flat responsive, and innovative organization structure among
others.
Citation
MBA ThesisSponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of Business, University of Nairobi
Description
Master Thesis