Strategic Management Practices And Performance Of National Irrigation Board Of Kenya

Abstract

One of the core purposes of strategic management theory and research is the improvement of organizational performance. The concept of strategic management is therefore relevant to public, private and non-governmental sector institutions as all of them are formed to fulfil a certain need in the environment. Government and its agencies the world over have adopted strategic management practices with the ultimate objective of improving performance in the delivery of public goods and services. The major objective of the study was to determine influence of strategic management practices of the National Irrigation Board of Kenya on organizational performance of the government agency. The research project was conducted as a case study of the National Irrigation Board of Kenya. Data for the project was collected from primary sources by carrying out in-depth interviews of six members of the top management of National Irrigation Board as well as from secondary sources which included strategic plans and annual performance reports. The qualitative data collected was subsequently analysed using content analysis technique. The study found that NIB had adopted and consistently applied such strategic management practices as visioning, defining the business domain, environmental scanning, formulation of objectives and strategies, establishment of core values, strategy implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation of the strategy for performance. The study further found that NIB had achieved improved performance after adoption of strategic management practices in relation to the situation before adoption of the strategic management concept. The study concludes that there is evidence that adoption of strategic management practices leads to improved performance but is inconclusive as to whether it is the sole cause of improved performance. The study recommends that NIB facilitates more regular strategy reviews, prioritizes implementation of lessons learned from such reviews, strengthens strategic management practices that are likely to ultimately lead to a favourable stakeholder perception, integrate practices that limit agency costs and pay more attention to formulation and implementation of strategies that will lead to sustainable financial stability in the long term. In this way, NIB can leverage the goodwill of stakeholders to exploit the opportunities that exist within the irrigation sector.