The Influences of Change Management Practices on Performance of Pinnacle Projects Ltd, Kenya

Abstract

Change management involves the use of systematic methods so as to ensure that organizational change is lead in a planned direction, done in a very cost effective and efficient manner as well as accomplished in the specified time frame so as to achieve the required results. In most cases change is driven by the need to develop more integrated systems of working and increasing effectiveness, impact and efficiency in the organisation as a way of increasing productivity and increased performance. This paper investigates the influences of change management practices on performance of Pinnacle Projects Ltd,Kenya. Pinnacle is one of the leading construction project management organisation in the country. The recent growths in real estate industry in Kenya has led to a lot of changes in the operating environment of organisations in this industry. It was important to investigate how organisations in the industry use change management practices to improve their performances. Interviews were administered to managing director, finance manager, human resource manager, IT manager, marketing director, chief engineer and chief project manager at Pinnacle Projects Ltd. It was found that the major external changes affecting Pinnacle projects include socio-economic changes, environmental changes, legal changes, technological changes and political changes. The research findings indicate that Pinnacle has adopted several strategic change management practices to improve its performance in the face of these changes. Some of the strategic changes that the company has implemented include involving team in change process, change of culture, reduction in cost, improving partnership with government, adoption of modern technology, and training and provision of incentives to employees. The adoption of these strategic changes has been manifested by growth in profitability of the company, high returns on investments and assets, high customer satisfaction and increased sales. The observations made in the case study of Pinnacle projects Ltd show that the effective strategic change management practices can have significant influence on the organisational performance. Pinnacle has managed to make significant profits through the strategic implementation of changes. Similar organisations can also adopt the model used by Pinnacle in order to survive the change process.