Management of Strategic Change at Rubis Energy Kenya PLC

Abstract

Change is a constant in the life of an organization. To keep up with the turbulent and dynamic environment, organizations need to monitor and execute changes impacting their processes, people and products inorder to adapt to the ever-changing business environment (Strategic fit). Their survival and performance is largely dependent on how they manage and adapt to the changes. Management of strategic change entails attaining desired change outcomes within the organization by managing the human side of the change process through adoption of coherent and extensive strategy. REK Plc has undergone numerous strategic changes which include acquisition and merger of KenolKobil Plc and Gulf Energy Holdings Ltd, rebranding of KenolKobil and Gulf Energy Holdings branded service stations to the RUBiS brand, organizational restructuring, Cultural change initiative and top leadership change. This research study sought to establish how REK Plc manages its strategic changes.The study was predicated by dynamic capability theory and supported by resource-based view theory and Lippitt’s seven-phase model of planned change. The study adopted case study design and relied on both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using interview/discussion guide where four senior managers at REK Plc were interviewed. Secondary data was obtained from relevant websites, library databases and reports. Data collected was qualitative in nature and was analyzed using content analysis technique that provided for the examination of pertinent themes, contents and concepts relevant to the study and inferences made thereof. The research study established that REK Plc had adopted numerous change management practices which included strategic leadership, open and relentless communication, employees and key stakeholders engagement/involvement and management, use of an experienced change management consultant and adoption of values-based organizational culture.The study further predicated that the organization had embraced organizational learning and innovation as a ploy to out-think their competitors and attain competitive advantage. The study recommends that REK Plc should monitor and evaluate its strategic changes continuously to align strategic results to the expected strategic outcomes and translate its identified values into behaviours and attitudes that its employees should embody/typify to enhance the capacity of the organization to thrive. Moreover, the study recommends that REK Plc should leverage on learning and innovation to enhance their agility, spur ideas and innovations as a retort to the increasingly unpredictable and dynamic environment. Finally, the study suggests that further research should be carried out at REK Plc post 2023 to contextualize how the organization manages its strategic changes and validate the findings of this study.