Influence of Strategic Change Management Practices on the Performance of the National Treasury in Kenya

Abstract

Strategic Change Management Practices has gained tremendous attention in the recent years especially from the way they influence performance. The need for this study arose because of the many changes taking place at the National Treasury in Kenya and how these changes are being management in order to achieve their strategic intention especially on performance. The motivation for this study was brought about by an effort to understand how an organization’s strategic change management practices can influence its performance. The significance of the influence of strategic change management practices on performance was the stimulus to this research and in particular, the issue of how an organization manages its strategic change practices with regard to its performance in order to attain competitive advantage. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of strategic change management practices on the performance of the National Treasury in Kenya. In order to achieve this objective, the researcher used a case study. Both primary and secondary data was collected using interview guide and published material like the strategic plan, annual performance reports and other relevant documents. Interview was administered to five members of the senior management team who included one Director, two Assistant Directors and two administrative officers. Data was analyzed using content analysis. Given their positions and years of experience at the National Treasury, their information was considered representative enough for the study. The findings revealed that the major strategic changes which were taking place at the National Treasury were technological, structural administrative and people changes. The planned strategic changes were driven by both external and internal factors. The National Treasury organization bureaucratic/mechanistic structure was a major challenge towards strategic change management. Not all the stakeholders were consulted/involved during the planning and designing of the strategic changes. Resistance to change was implausible due to the bureaucratic nature of the public service ministries. Education and communication, facilitation and support, power–coercive strategies were used to ensure that stakeholders adapted to change processes appropriately. Performance contracting is also practiced at the National Treasury. The practices that determined the outcome of strategic change included organization culture, employees’ values and beliefs, support systems and organization structure. The major limitation was that the researcher used a case study thus the findings are unique to the National Treasury and cannot be used to make a generalization of all the other ministries in Kenya public service. The researcher concluded that the strategic change management practices influence performance at the National Treasury. The researcher suggests that future researchers should investigate the influence of strategic change management practices on performance adopted by other ministries and their contribution to organizational performance. Such findings can then be compared to assess areas of commonalities. A survey design could be used instead of a case study design. The researcher recommends that public ministries should be encouraged to generate their strategic changes internally instead of reacting to changes from external factors and to embrace all round communication. In addition, a review of the National Treasury organization design, structure and culture is recommended.