| dc.description.abstract | The greatest challenge organizational Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) face today is
translating their strategic thinking into strategic intents or operational realities that are
commensurate to the 21st century business landscape. In practice, organizations have
several models that aid in the formulation of strategic intent and development of business
strategies; however what is typically lacking is a systematic framework for identifying
and delivering strategic intent by individual organizational CEOs. On the contrary, the
military environment makes use of a well-structured approach for individual intent
formulation process, titled “Commander‟s appreciation process”. This study sought to
determine how CEOs of organizations listed in Nairobi Security Exchange (NSE)
formulate their individual strategic intent. Further, it examined whether the commander‟s
appreciation process as used in the military has any applicability in the formulation of
strategic intent by CEOs in the business environment. 19 organizations listed in NSE
were selected for the study. Primary data was collected through personal interviews with
CEOs and self-administered questionnaire to the organizational Strategic Planning teams.
The data collected was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively through content analysis
and descriptive statistics and other Statistical Packages for Social sciences. The findings
revealed that CEOs have not adopted any formal models in formulating individual
strategic intent, only informal mental diverse processes are utilized. The majority of
CEOs practiced minimal formal formulation processes, allowing more of intuition and
critical thinking to influence their intent; as guided by the board of directors. In addition,
the study acknowledged that there is a significant relationship between strategic intent
formulation in military and the business environment, however they sharply differ in
terms of environmental and information analysis and hence the organizational CEOs
stand to gain immensely from the commander‟s appreciation process. This study
therefore is significant as it adjoins the individual and organizational intent, contributing
to the body of knowledge specifically in the formulation of individual strategic intent;
which is fundamental in the strategic planning process. The study also impacts positively
to the readers and scholars where they are able to relate the CEOs‟ role in determining the
direction and destiny of organizations within their mandate. This study has important
implications on the role of board of directors, CEOs and the strategic planning teams in
terms of strategic formulation. Higher institutions of learning (Universities) are
challenged to focus on the identified gaps, especially on the applicability of strategic
management theories and be more synthetical later than analytical. Models similar to the
military Commander‟s Appreciation process, mirroring the business environment should
be developed and be thought to postgraduates (MBA); to aid their understanding of
strategic intent and subsequent individual strategic intent formulation. Finally, the study
revealed that strategic intent concept still remains relatively new concept in most of
organizations listed in NSE, thus formal strategic management training for the CEOs and
personnel at planning and managerial levels is desirable.
Keywords: Strategy, Strategist, Chief Executive Officer, Military Commander,
Commander‟s Appreciation process and Military Commander‟s intent. | en_US |
