Challenges of Strategy Implementation at Kakamega Teachers Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, Kenya (Published)
Strategy implementation is the most challenging stage of strategic management. Strategies that have been formulated have no value unless they are effectively translated into action. During the implementation process challenges may arise both from the internal and external environment. When these challenges occur, organizations should come up with ways that will help them combat, mitigate or sustain the challenges in the turbulent environment. This study intended to establish the challenges of strategy implementation at Kakamega Teachers Sacco and determine the measure taken by the Sacco to cope with the challenges of strategy implementation. To achieve this, an interview guide was administered to the senior management at Kakamega Teachers Sacco who are charged with the responsibility of implementing strategy. More data was also obtained from the relevant secondary documents that were availed by the Sacco. The data was collected basing on the selected departments as reflected in the interview guide. The raw data collected was checked and examined to ensure that it was complete and comprehensive. The findings of the study revealed that the Sacco had experienced several challenges when implementing their strategic plan. They include; inadequate resources, limited access to resources, lack of IT skills and IT equipments, outdated information technology, resistance to change, unsupportive culture, poor communication and lack of a reward policy. The study also established that the measures to strategy implication include; identifying new investments with high returns, adequate collateral and more guarantors should be a requirement for loan application, updating the information technology system, acquiring new members of the staff, training members of staff in relevant fields training them, developing an appropriate reward policy and establishment of a well stipulated protocol procedure. The study recommends that Kakamega teachers Sacco should come up with a team building programme and establish a marketing department. The study recommends that further studies be undertaken on; strategy formulation and evaluation, challenges of strategy implementation in other Sacco’s and a longitudinal study on challenges of strategy implementation in the Sacco.
Keywords: (IT), Challenges of Strategy, Kakamega Teachers Sacco, Strategy Evaluation, Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation
Relationship between Strategic Planning Process and Financial Performance of Professional Service SMES in Kenya: Moderating Role of Innovation Practices (Published)
This paper investigates the relationship between Strategic planning process and financial performance of professional service SMEs in Kenya. Specifically, the study had two specific objectives of the study: first, to analyze the effect of strategic planning process on the financial performance of professional service SMEs in Kenya and secondly, to test the moderating effect of innovation practices on the relationship between strategic planning process and financial performance of professional service SMEs in Kenya. The study targeted 384 SMEs as the sample size, with data collected from managers/owners through questionnaire. SMEs were randomly selected while respondents were selected through purposive sampling. The study findings indicated that innovation practices have a moderating effect on the relationship between strategic planning process and the financial performance of professional service SMEs in Kenya. From the findings, it can be concluded that SMEs with strategic planning practices and innovative practices are likely to have better performance than SMEs that have adopted strategic planning process only.
Keywords: Environmental Scanning, Innovation Practices, Small Medium Enterprises, Strategic Management, Strategy Evaluation, Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation