The Strategic Effect of Automating Financial Systems in Devolved Governments Performance a Case of Nairobi County
Abstract
Globally, many scholars view financial system automation as important to any
organisation or institution because of the role it play in enhancing efficiency in
service delivery. In the wake of devolution, county governments financial
performance has been pegged on how efficient, economical and effective are their
operations. The major administrative problems being their inability to cost effectively
collect fully the revenues. This research develops a conceptual model to test how
Nairobi County management strategies affect the automation of its financial systems
policies, decisions and implementation. The target population was purposefully
chosen for this study and included individuals with significant knowledge about
automating financial system especially those at strategic level. Data was collected by
means of personal interviews, approximately 15 face-to-face interviews with the
Nairobi County senior executives was conducted. The study used qualitative
techniques to enable an in-depth understanding of the strategic effect of automating
financial system in Nairobi County. Moreover, it adopted a case study research design
and used a purposive sampling design to make sure that all significant sectors of the
study were systematically covered. Results indicated that senior executive support
and goodwill played an integral role in the implementation of automation process.
The results further indicated that there was a positive correlation between the
financial system automation strategies and the implementation of the same. In
addition, the study established that stakeholder’s involvement in formulation and
implementation of the same strategies promoted its success. As the staff at operation
level tends to own up the entire system. The analysis of the data revealed that the
major challenges facing the financial automation are reduced commitment among
some stakeholders; inadequate resources allocated for the implementation process,
poor succession plans and reduced commitment in adopting the County strategic
agenda blueprint. To avert the same the researcher recommended that the AFS
formulation and implementation committee should include all stakeholders who are
affected by the same. As well as support and train their employees of how the system
works and the accruing benefits of using the system. Lastly, they should provide
incentives and awards to those operation levels staff that show increased commitment
in the implementation process.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Description
Thesis