Influence of Human Resource on Implementation of Strategic Change Management Practices at the University of Nairobi

Abstract

Strategic change implementation in organizations requires careful planning and knowledgeable human resource with the required skills, knowledge and attitudes. The need for this study came as a result of understanding how human resource can influence strategic implementation at the University of Nairobi and how these changes are being implemented to meet the expectations of their customers and achieve a competitive advantage for success and survival. The research design used was a case study and both primary data and secondary data were collected. Data was analyzed using content analysis. The researcher managed to interview three interviewees who were; a Director, a Records Manager and one of the Senior Administrative Staff. The study found out that there have been various strategic changes that have been taking place at the University of Nairobi; the major change being adoption of information communication technologies which enhanced sharing of information among its stakeholders. The study revealed that knowledge is considered to be a key strategic resource that does not depreciate and can generate increasing returns. The findings further revealed that challenges that were encountered in strategy implementation were resistance to change, inadequate resources and lack of adequate personnel. It was observed that the University had adopted performance contracting, service charter and International Standard Organization (ISO) that guided them in improving their service delivery. It was also observed that the University values staff training that is geared towards improving their skills and knowledge. The study recommends that the University should continuously train and develop its employees to enable them cope with environmental changes and reduce resistance to change. The study further recommends that the University should allocate more resources to ensure that there are adequate facilities and available funds to implement the chosen strategies. The major limitation of the study was that it was carried out within a short period of time and this could not allow the researcher to collect enough data for comprehensive analysis and the interviewees had limited time to answer the research questions due to their busy schedule. The study concludes that, human resource is key to strategy implementation as they control the other resources. The study suggests that, further research should be carried out to investigate the influence of human resource on implementation of strategic change management practices adopted by other universities and use a survey design instead of a case study. Key recommendations of the study are that, the university should invest in human resource for effective strategic change implementation, involve stakeholders in the strategic change processes and make training its culture to impart the required knowledge and skills to enable its employees cope with environmental changes.