Influence of Strategy on Organizational Structure of Protestant Confession Churches in Kenya

Abstract

The relationship between strategy and organization structure is a key component to the success of any organization. Strategy thrives in an organization with the right structure, management is therefore required to align structure to strategy. Several research have focused on influence of strategy on structure of an organization. Many of these studies have not focused on churches to provide sound argument for the causal direction for the two elements specific to churches. The study sought to establish how strategy influences structure among the protestant confession churches who are members of the National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK). Survey design approach was used with a population of 37 churches who were members of NCCK. The respondents were the Pastor or an executive of the church. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Data was analyzed using descriptive, regression and content methods. The study found that there was a gender gap with more male respondents than female. The gap could be explained by the fact that many churches have few appointment of females to senior positions in the church. Also, in the tradition African society, pastoral care was a male-dominated and even biblically, all the disciples and apostles of Jesus Christ were male. Most of the respondents had been in the church for over 12 years and had attained higher education placing them in a better position of comprehending the questions and provide valuable responses. The churches involved members in strategy formulation and the strategy was interpreted to members of the congregation. The study found that there was growth in membership largely attributed to a clear strategy implementation. Most churches had formal structure with a head office where decisions on structure and resource allocation were made. Most of the Churches had branches and departments with employees managing various tasks and had undertaken some changes to their structure. The findings revealed that the structure in the protestant confession churches who are members of NCCK was influenced by strategy. The regression analysis found positive and significant relation between strategy and structure. The study concluded that strategy influenced the structure of protestant churches and that the strategy and structure used in the churches improved the church’s ability to meet its goal, mission and objectives. Therefore, the study recommended the alignment of strategy with structure. The findings of the study are significant to managers in different organizations by highlighting the association between strategy and structure.