Effect of Strategic Change Management Practices on Service Delivery at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kenya

Abstract

Change initiative is time consuming and costly, significantly impacting an organization’s drive toward success. Organizations need to survive and to remain competitive in the modern dynamic environment has necessitated the need for change management. For organizations to remain competitive, they must respond to change swiftly. Change being a constant feature of organizational life and the ability to manage is a competence of successful organizations.In modern times organizations have adopted change to cope with the dynamic world events.Change initiatives have an effect on the efficiency, quality and speed of service delivery. Since Change is inevitable, organizations need to resolve how to adapt successfully and sustain the change. Whether the economy is developing or contracting, discovering approaches to managing change solely depends on the employees’ response, perception and ability to adapt to the changes introduced.The ministry of foreign affairs has embraced change management practices to improve service delivery. The study focuses on management practices of leadership, stakeholder involvement, employee participation and communication; which have been analyzed within the context of this project. A case study technique was used. The study was based three theories namely; Strategic Group, Knowledge Based view and Dynamic Capability Theories. The study employed an interview guide where four heads of departments were interviewed.Content analysis was used to analyze the data.The study established that there were changes implemented in the ministry and the leaders spearheaded the change process. The study found out that resistance to change was a major challenge to change implementation. The study found out that management practices of leadership, stakeholder involvement, employee participation in change process and communication enhanced service delivery. The study recommends that all employees and stakeholders should be involved in change management process.