Employee Skills, Management Style and Organizational Culture in Implementation of Strategic Plans in Middle Level Colleges in Thika Sub-County, Kenya

George K Mwangi,Alice N Simuyu,Julius O Olayo

doi:10.5539/ijbm.v10n6p199

George K Mwangi, Alice N Simuyu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v10n6p199

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Abstract

This study sought to investigate the extent of employee skills, management styles and organizational culture on strategic plans implementation in middle level colleges in Kenya. The study involved 40 middle level colleges located within Thika sub-county, Kiambu County. The study adopted descriptive study design. The study population comprised of 400 personnel working in middle level colleges. A sample of 100 respondents was selected using simple random sampling in order to obtain data using questionnaires. The data collected were analysed using SPSS. The study revealed that the employees’ skills and management style are vital in the strategic plans implementation. The results further revealed that the staff in the various units in the organizations had the proper skills to ensure the smooth implementation of strategic plans. Further, the findings indicated that the management offers support for the implementation of new strategic plans and that the organizational culture inhibits the introduction of new strategic plans implementation. This study is important in that it will guide the management of various middle level colleges in drafting and implementing strategic plans.

Highlights

Strategic plan is an important component of strategic management (Borg & Gall, 2006)
The purpose of the research was to understand the role of employee skills, management style and organizational culture in the implementation of strategic plans in middle level colleges in Kenya
The study findings indicated majority of the respondents were aged between 31-40 years while the smallest proportion was aged above 50 years (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Strategic plan is an important component of strategic management (Borg & Gall, 2006). Strategy implementation remains the biggest challenge in strategic management. It is well documented during the last decades that strategy implementation often fails (Arthur, 1992; Hrebiniak, 2006, Aalto University, 2000-2011). Strategy usually remains a top management issue even though employees are the ones implementing the strategy (Mantere & Vaara, 2008; Whittington, 2007). Employees lack knowledge and skills while managers may have the prerequisite management skills to support the implementation of strategic plans (Wooldridge et al, 2008; Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000)

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Conclusion