The Process and Challenges of Strategy Implementation at World Vision Kenya

Abstract

Strategy implementation is an important process in strategic management. This process is faced with complexity and challenges as many organizations create great plans for their future, but fail to fully implement the desired changes. Strategy implementation task is the most complicated and time consuming part of strategic management cutting across vertically all facets of management and must be initiated from many points within the organization to ensure its success.

The study focused on the process of strategy implementation and its challenges in World Vision Kenya. The research was conducted through a case study and the researcher used an interview guide as a primary data collection tool. The interview guide was administered through face to face interviews to staff in management level in various offices within the organization.The data collected was qualitative and was analyzed using content analysis method.

The study found that all the staff were involved in the strategic implementation process in their various positions and they were fully aware of the strategic plan which was in operation, running from the year 2010 to 2012. The study concluded that the staffwereable to identify the factors that facilitated successful strategy implementation. Communication and organizational structure were rated as the most critical success factors in strategy implementation. The study further concluded that some of the challenges that were affecting strategy implementation besides communication and organizational structure included, the context within which World Vision Kenya operatedwhich was very volatile and was subject to external factors (natural, political and environmental) which the organization had little or no control over thereby affecting implementation.

Secondly, staff had many competing priorities which distracted them from performing their core functions thereby affecting strategy implementation. Also, the growth in financial resources (funding received) by the organization was not matching the growth of the human resource capital base thereby staff suffered from exhaustion and burn out.The study had limitations since it focused on only one organization or unit. Further research should be conducted to establish the process and challenges of strategy implementation among Non-Governmental Organization in Kenya both faith based and non-faith based organizations.