IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCES ON STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION IN STATE CORPORATIONS IN KENYA

Anne Wanjiru Kiboi

School of Business

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Corresponding Author email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Professor. S. Perks

School of Business

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Professor. E.E Smith

School of Business

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

CITATION: Kiboi, A., W., Perks, S., Smith, E., E. (2018). Impact Of Human Resources On Strategy Implementation In State Corporations In Kenya. International Journal of Human Resources and Procurement. Vol. 7 (7) pp 16 – 29.

ABSTRACT

Changes have been taking place in the Kenyan state corporations since 2003 and this has been as a result of corporate strategy implementation. However it is not enough to develop a good strategy, good strategies can fail during implementation. The state corporations in Kenya, like in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, have been characterized by slow and bureaucratic processes that retard corporation’s performance. Kenyan state corporations are important to the economy of the country. They provide social and essential services to the Kenyan population. However their poor performance needs a relook at determinants of success in strategy implementation in state corporations in Kenya. Kenyan public enterprises face challenges in the areas of labour and capital. As far as labour is concerned, the challenges appear to be in governance, the fostering of innovation, and the changing of employee attitudes towards effective service delivery that low levels of productivity measured in output and innovation, are damaging the much-needed growth in organisations as well as in the public sector. These challenges in state corporations corporate governance led to this study to focus on the impact of human resources on strategy implementation. A survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to 485 managers in state corporations in Kenya. Correlation and exploratory factor analysis, the KMO measure of sample adequacy, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, multi-Collinearity diagnostic and regressions were the main statistical procedures used to test the appropriateness of data, correlation and significance of the relationships hypothesized between the various independent and dependent variables. Human resources provides sufficient evidence of statistically significant relationships between human resources and strategy implementation. This shows that the managers of state corporations in Kenya agree that human resources affect strategy implementation positively. Kenyan state corporation managers further agree that there is enough staff to implement their chosen strategies and that all staff are involved in decision-making. In addition, managers of Kenyan state corporations consider their staff to have the required skills to implement strategies by being flexible in adapting to new developments. They also consider their staff as committed to strategy implementation and regard them as champions who drive the strategic implementation process.

Key Words: Human Resources, Strategy Implementation, State Corporations in Kenya

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