Strategy development at Postal Corporation of Kenya

Abstract

Organizations interact with environment in which they operate and therefore must align themselves with the ever changing business environment. This involves assessment of a firm’s internal capability and how well it is equipped to adapt and survive in the industry within which it operates. The analysis of a firm’s strategy involves the interaction between the strategic choice and its environmental context. Ansoff and McDonnell (1990) wrote that organizations’ strategy and internal capability must keep changing to match the environmental conditions. Strategy is therefore not static but keeps changing even within an organization. This study sort to determine strategy development processes and establish factors influencing strategy development at Postal Corporation of Kenya (PCK). The study used a case study design because it places more emphasis on a limited number of events or conditions and their interrelations (Kothari, 2004). The researcher used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire and in-depth interview with senior managers. Secondary data was obtained from internal documents such as internal correspondences and documentary materials from existing records at PCK Headquarters. Data was analyzed using content analysis to allow in-depth understanding of issues in the case. The study determined strategy development processes at PCK and revealed that the corporation started with undertaking SWOT analysis where strengths and weaknesses in the internal environment and opportunities and threats in the external environment were identified and analyzed. PESTLE analysis was also done that involved analyzing the external environment in terms of political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental dimensions. The second step involved preparation of vision, mission and core values. The third step was development of key corporate strategic objectives. In the final analysis, the Corporation developed detailed action plan, resource requirements and projected financial and statistical outcomes. In the detailed action plan, PCK listed strategies for mobilizing the required resources. The process took approximately one year and ended with a blue-print that was widely shared within the organization to guide implementation of the strategy. The study also revealed that very few people took part in strategy development at PCK mainly comprised of management staff. Non management staffs were largely excluded. The study established factors influencing strategy development at PCK to be environmental in nature. The study concluded that strategy development is important to large corporations in the face of turbulent environment. Including many people has many advantages including improved quality of the strategy, improves employees understanding of the organization leading to improved motivation and resistance to change is also reduced. The study recommended that PCK needs to consider shortening the strategy development period since environment is highly turbulent. Five years period is on the higher side. Postal Corporation of Kenya is a very large organization with more than 3,000 staff and over 700 outlets. The researcher was not able to visit many outlets to talk to many staff because of time constraints. The study is specific to Postal Corporation of Kenya therefore its findings and recommendations may not be applicable to other organizations. This study focused only on Postal Corporation of Kenya. The researcher recommends that further research with similar objectives be done on other organizations, for instance, courier companies, communication companies, among others. The respondents in this study were few managers based in Nairobi. It is therefore suggested that similar study can be done targeting more respondents from PCK outlets.