Factors Affecting Strategy Implementation in Kenyan Banks: a Case Study of Consolidated Bank Kenya Limited

Abstract

Formulation of strategy refers to the practice of designing, adopting and implementation of long term vision for the purposes of ensuring that an organization effectively manages its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities as well as its threats. Formulation of strategy may also imply the idea of a company transforming its plans, vision and mission into practice through implementation in order to attain its set objectives. In order for the set strategies to deliver the much desired results, the strategies must be accompanied by other supporting factors such as proper decision making on various issues such as proper remuneration and reward system of the employees, adequate resources, sound leadership as well as support from all the levels of management and all the stakeholders. This study was guided by the objectives of investigating the challenges that consolidated bank faces while implementing on its various strategies as well as determining ways and means in the bank relies on to manage these challenges. This study adopted the case study as its research design and data was obtained using the interview guide. This data was analyzed using qualitative analysis. This study established that the bank had developed a number of strategies that aimed at assisting it to attain its goals. Secondly the major impediments to the success of the implementation of the banks strategies include; financial constraints the bank experiences, and failure to allow the employees to participate in formulating those strategies. Other impediments are as follows; lack of consistent follow up on the progress of plans under implementation, the problem of finance allocation, changing the strategies at the middle of their implementation, sabotage from a section of the employees from the formulation stage, the implementation stage, the review stage and the recommendations stage. In other words the study discovered that there is no continuity in the implementation of strategies in case an employee leaves the bank. This is because there are no provisions for the availability of manuals for the operationalization of different strategies, in addition to duplicating roles and tasks. The study recommends the adoption of effective program designs