Change Management Practices at Senaca East Africa Limited
Abstract
Effective organizations are organic entities that have to constantly change in response to
their environment to ensure their survival. A firm's ability to seek and maintain
competitive advantage rests on its ability to not only understand, but also manage the
change strategically. The purpose of this study was to determine the change management
practices at Senaca EA in Kenya by establishing the changes that have taken place in the
company, the factors that have influenced that change and the challenges faced by the
company during the implementation of change management process. Literature was
reviewed to cover various scholars' views on the common approaches of change
management, successful practices and the common challenges during the planning,
implementation and evaluation of change management. The research adopted case study
as its research design, primary data was collected through an interview guide and the data
analyzed through content analysis. The respondents were comprised of six senior
management officials of Senaca EA. The research found out that Senaca EA is affected
by the external and internal environment and in response, has practiced change
management structurally, financially, technologically and culturally. Most of the change
process is planned but there are instances that emergent change is undertaken during
unforeseen circumstances like the global recession that split it from the parent company
in Europe. The study established that Senaca EA has changed its strategies over time and
this has resulted in increased total revenue from Kshs. 6 Million in the year 2011 to a
current monthly turnover of Kshs. 36 million. Limitations of the study included lack of
time and resources for extensive study and the use of a case study is not sufficient
grounds for generalization in the area of study and cross sectional survey research design
was recommended for future studies. The findings of this research project will provide
useful information for decision making in change management to the various
stakeholders in policy, theory and practice. The research recommends further study into
the strategic planning process in Senaca EA. The study provides insight on the change
management practices adopted by various firms in Kenya. The researcher concludes that
there is no best approach to strategically manage change and organizations have
developed different approaches to managing change that they found suitable for their
context.
Keywords: change management, planned approach, emergent approach, environmental
forces and security.
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Citation
Masters of Business AdministrationPublisher
University of Nairobi