| dc.description.abstract | Strategy development in an organisation is an on-going, never-ending integrated process requiring continuous reassessment and reformation. This process will include the setting of corporate objectives and targets, forecasting performance in key areas, companng predictions with targets, assessing strengths and weaknesses, generating alternative strategies and deciding on the appropriate strategy. This process will ordinarily be directed by the top management of organisation to determine the fundamental aims or goals of the organization, and ensure a range of decisions which will allow for the achievement of those aims or goals in the long-term, while providing for adaptive responses in the short-term.
Further, the strategy of the organisation will result from discussion made about the positioning and repositioning of the organization in terms of its strengths in relation to its markets and forces affecting it in its wider environment The objectives of the study were to determine the nature of strategy development among the SMEs in the Furniture and Fittings sector in Nairobi and also establish the factors that influence strategy development in these firms. In striving to achieve the objectives, the study adopted a survey research design in which several SMEs in the sector were interviewed and the results presented.
The results of the study indicated that most of the SMEs did not have a strategic plan and even for those that had, the process was not an all inclusive process. The senior managers of the SMEs were found to be ones that mostly developed the strategies and the other employees only implemented it. Feedback on organization's strategy performance varied from one organization to another but mostly it was found out to be quarterly.
Leadership and management were found to be the most critical factors affecting the development of strategies in the SMEs. With the support of the managers the firm's objectives was easily achieved. However, strategy development should be all inclusive as others are involved in the formulation while others are tasked with the duty of implementation and therefore all the employees of the SMEs needs each other to ensure the success of the strategy. | en_US |
