Strategic change as a catalyst for organizational success at Karirana estates limited, Kenya
Abstract
To remain competitive, organizations must be able to respond to change at all times. There is a
great need for all organisations to change in order to adjust to the changing internal and external
environment. This means that the attitudes of the organisation members and the organisation
itself have to change along with the structural changes and this does involve expertise from the
behavioral sciences. This study was motivated by the need to assess the relationship between
strategic change and the success of an organisation. To achieve this objective, the study collected
data from the management staff of Karirana Estates Limited through interviews. The data
collected was analyzed using content analysis and presented as descriptive notes. The department
included Finance and IT, Factory, Human Resources and Sales and Marketing. The general
Manager was interviewed as well. Karirana Estates Limited, having been existence for over fifty
years, has undergone through many transformations. The source of these alterations has been
both internal and external and has successfully maintained its brand name, both locally and
internationally by effectively meeting the demand of their many stakeholders. To determine the
success of organisations, one need to pay attention to the four essential measures i.e. Financial,
Customer satisfaction, Employee satisfaction, Contribution to society and an auxiliary measure,
key operational results. Aggressive pursuit of a creative adaptable strategy, propels a firm into a
leadership position, paving way for its goods and services to become the industry standard. The
study recommends that organizations should focus on taking the right measure in strategic
change in an organization so as to attain organizational success through increasing firm customer
base, asset quality, quality of service, increase in production and increased market share. This
was as explicitly explained by Karirana Estates Limited management taking appropriate measure
at the right time where strategies seems to fail in achieving set goals, energies and abilities to
explicitly enhance strategies that propel organizational success performance. The study
concludes that there is a myriad benefit for an organisation in adapting to strategic changes that
befall it in order to continue commanding its competitive place in its industry. Otherwise there is
an eminent danger of being wiped out of business by those that gladly and effectively adapt to
change. Understanding how Karirana Estates Limited adjusts to strategic change and its
relationship to their success will provide an incentive to further study the tea industry which has
been a mystery to many people for a long time. This study will ultimately provide a blue print in
understanding, management, and control by all stakeholders of the tea industry in Kenya.