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Strategic Leadership and Implementation of Strategy in Commercial Banks in Kenya
No full textA Dissertation Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)The high failure rate in strategy implementation points to the fact that strategy implementation is not an easy task, and strategic leadership is one of the key drivers of strategy implementation. The banking sector in Kenya has over the past decade performed well, a feat attributable partly to effective regulation and partly to effective strategy implementation in the banks. The study aimed at investigating the influence of strategic leadership on the effective implementation of strategy in the commercial banks in Kenya. To achieve this, a positivism philosophical framework was adopted. The research design applied was causal-explanatory in nature. The main theory adopted for this study is the Strategic Leadership Theory. The study used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected, using a self-developed, self-administered questionnaire, from a census that entailed 406 respondents comprising the strategic leadership in the 40 commercial banks. The primary data was collected directly from the respondents using the survey-monkey tool by sending an email with the questionnaire, tracking the responses and following up with reminders to the non-responsive respondents. The secondary data was collected from the Central Bank of Kenya website using the secondary data collection tool. For primary data, a total of 194 survey responses were received, giving a response rate of 48%.
The study found that each of the seven actions that characterize strategic leadership had significant influence on strategy implementation in the banks in Kenya. The seven actions of strategic leadership studies were determining strategic direction, maintaining and exploiting core competencies, developing human capital, developing social capital, sustaining an effective organizational culture, emphasizing ethical practices and establishing balanced organizational goals. The study also examined to what extent environmental complexity moderated the relationship between strategic leadership actions and the effective implementation of strategy in the commercial banks in Kenya and found that none of the constructs of environmental complexity had a significant influence on the implementation of strategy. The key conclusion of this study is that Strategic Direction and Organization Controls which explain 37.7% of the variance, significantly influence Strategy Implementation in the Banks in Kenya, with Core Competencies, Human Capital, Social Capital, Organization Culture, and Ethical Practices being insignificant.
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Based on the findings, the study recommends that banks should have the vison/mission/strategic intent clearly defined and understood by staff through involvement of all, use incentive compensation to align action to strategy, facilitate meaning making of changes to achieve envisioned future through communication, avoid too much commitment to the status quo and go for change and calculated risks, and hiring CEOs whose personality is inclined towards strategic change, to determine the strategic direction of the bank.
On core competencies, the study recommends that the banks should encourage sharing of resources across units in Kenya and outside, build new capabilities into core competencies, leverage their resources, have core competencies understood at strategy formulation and emphasized at implementation. On human capital, the banks should leverage human capital resources to create competitive advantage, involve leaders in the learning experience whether failure or success, employ effective training and development programs to build the knowledge and skills to perform leadership tasks, during downsizing the banks should enhance investment in training and development. On social capital, banks should invest in strong social capital to enable pursuit of new opportunities while reinforcing existing advantages, build relational capital which is essential for regionalization and develop managerial ties.
The study recommends that the banks develop a culture that is unique hence difficult to imitate, that encourages strategic thinking and pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities, that is sensitive to ethical considerations, and that complements its chosen strategy. On ethical practices, the study recommends the need for mechanisms to reward acts of courage in reporting wrongdoing, developing codes of ethics that must be enforced, encouraging unit members to exhibit collective moral emotions and acting collectively ethical, resisting temptations to act unethically for short term personal benefits, and embracing stakeholders‘ ethical concerns in decision making process. On organization controls, the study recommends the banks incorporation of sustainability issues in their strategy formulation process, creating a balance between strategic control and autonomy for the various units, and use of a strategic tool like Balanced Scorecard to achieve balance between strategic controls and financial controls
Assessing integrity based on your looks
No full textA Newspaper article by Scott Bellows, an Assistant Professor in the Chandaria School of Business at USIU-AfricaResearchers continue to publish more cutting-edge studies in the world’s leading business psychology journals in 2017 that focus on human beings’ deep levels of unexpected unconscious bias against each other.
A fascinating and disturbing trend involves the levels to which humans utilise non-verbal cues in order to build our impressions about other people in the workplace. How one walks, sits, stands, raises or lowers their arms, or points with their hand all trigger intense feelings in other people that lead them to perceive positive or negative emotions about the other person.
Our brain’s powerful subconscious involves the more ancient sections of the mind that regulates impressions, gut feelings, and emotions. Whether we find someone else attractive, a threat, friendly, or enjoyable to be around all generate from subconscious quick decisions informed by how our brains evolved to survive in the bush.
If you walk down Moi Avenue in Nairobi and another person walks toward you in certain manners of steps and body posture, your brain would instantly recognise the threat and immediately jolt you to move away or retaliate with your own threat posturing
Avoid stereotyping others after polls
No full textA Newspaper article by Scott Bellows, an Assistant Professor in the Chandaria School of Business at USIU-AfricaLet us be steadfast against stereotyping those different from ourselves especially after the General Election.
From board rooms to office cubicles, sitting rooms to local schools, and politicians to civil society, we must remain vigilant following stressful uncertain events that occur, like our elections.
In the aftermath of major occasions that yield doubtful outcomes, stereotypes, social identity, and experiential learning distortions all can combine to form potent ingredients for social dissonance.
Psychologically, the human brain is an extremely efficient categorising apparatus. We quickly label people as dangerous or safe, then layer on sub-categories upon sub-categories. The stereotyping process involves people developing categories and assigning traits to those categories. An example could be an assumption that Tanzanians walk slowly. Then, we assign people we meet and know to our categories based on observable information about those individuals, such as, “I notice that my workmate is Tanzanian”
Are examinations true measure of intelligence?
No full textA Newspaper article by Scott Bellows, an Assistant Professor in the Chandaria School of Business at USIU-AfricaAs more than 500,000 candidates anxiously await their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination results released yesterday, what is the meaning of true intelligence? Can we capture intelligence in standardised tests? Psychologists debate different aspects of intelligence, but in general academic wherewithal falls into one’s intelligence quotient.
However, many of us can remember a few smart high scoring students from our secondary school days who wound up leading lacklustre unrewarding careers. As highlighted on March 7, 2014, in the Business Daily, ‘Exam scores do not fairly represent true abilities’, preparation for standardised tests as well as most undergraduate and post-graduate education only nominally prepare students for the real world.
Among many issues with formal schooling systems in Kenya that punitively foster convergent thinking rather than divergent thinking, the KCSE fails to capture key indicators of a student’s future success revolving around emotional intelligence and social intelligence.
The most popular non-academic aptitude, emotional intelligence, construct exploded onto the academic and corporate stage in 1990 with a seminal research study conducted by John Mayer and Peter Salovey. A cacophony of social scientists as well as laymen, such as journalists, have ever since trumpeted emotional intelligence as the solution to human-centred problems within organisations
Effects of Information Communication Technology Strategy Implementation on the Customer Service Delivery in the Insurance Industry in Kenya
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Master of Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of the study was to establish the effect of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) strategy implementation on customer service delivery in the insurance industry in Kenya. The study was guided by the following research questions: How does the implementation of online underwriting strategy affect customer service delivery in the insurance industry?; How does the implementation of claims management strategy affect customer service delivery in the insurance industry?; and How does the implementation of a centralized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy affect customer service delivery in the insurance industry?
The study used a descriptive research design. The target population of the study consisted of the individual policy holders with active policies in the top 10 insurance companies in Kenya. The list of the top 10 insurance companies was obtained from Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA). A list of the active policy holders was obtained from the respective insurance companies. The sampling technique for this study was stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the selected respondents. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistical analysis included means and standard deviations. Inferential statistical analysis included making valid conclusions from the data. For this study, data analysis tool used was Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software.
The study showed that the rating of the respondents understanding of customer service delivery in the insurance industry was high as indicated by all respondents. Rating the quality of customer service delivery for the insurance providers in Kenya was high as indicated by 87.3% of the respondents. Rating of the quality of customer service delivery for insurance providers was high as indicated by 97.5% of the respondents. The underwriting process was important to customers when ranking the quality of customer service delivery for any insurance provider as indicated by all the respondents.
The study showed that, the insurance providers had implemented efficient claims management strategy as indicated by all the respondents. Current claims management process was automated from claims notification to claims payment as indicated by all the respondents. Automated claims workflow allowed the customer to keep track of the progress made on their claim settlement process without having to visit the branch as indicated by 97.5% of the respondents. Automated claims management process had robust validation process that shortened the validation phase as indicated by all the respondents.
The study showed that, the population was aware of the CRM services in their insurance provider to a high extent as indicated by 87.3% of the respondents. CRM services affected customers’ choice of insurance provider to a high extent as indicated by all respondents. Customers felt their insurance provider had robust CRM strategy to a high extent as indicated by 97.5% of the respondents. Customers were satisfied with their customer care service offered by their insurance provider as indicated by 97.5% of the respondents. Customers felt that their insurance provider addressed their primary needs adequately as indicated by all the respondents.
The study concludes that customers understood customer service delivery that was offered by the insurance industry and the rating of customer service delivery by the insurance providers in Kenya was high. From the study, it can be concluded that customers were familiar with the automated online insurance application processes and the usability of the online underwriting process was highly better than the manual process. The automation of an underwriting process highly affected customers’ choice of insurance providers in Kenya, and customers felt to a high extent that their insurance providers had adopted the online underwriting strategy. The study concludes that the population was aware of the CRM services in their insurance providers and CRM services affected customers’ choice of insurance providers in Kenya to a very high extent.
The study recommends insurance companies to ideally capture the essence of the carrier’s underwriting strategy, this will enable them to enable their underwriters to make the best underwriting decisions, and insurance companies must arm them with the company’s leading practices and expertise. These firms need to articulate an actionable strategy that front line underwriters can easily understand and execute
The Role of Strategic Management Practices on Competitiveness of Floriculture Industry in Kenya: A Case of Kiambu County
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of this study was to establish the role of strategic management on competitiveness in the floriculture industry in Kenya. The research was guided by the following research questions: How does strategy formulation affect competitiveness of the floriculture industry? How does strategy implementation affect competitiveness in the floriculture industry? How does strategy evaluation affect competitiveness of the floriculture industry?
A descriptive research was used. The target population of this study were managers in the 21-floriculture industries in Kiambu County. The data obtained was analyzed via statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and excel. The quantitative data obtained was examined, and the findings presented in percentages, means, standard deviations, and frequencies. A regression analysis was utilized to investigate the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The researcher distributed 63 questionnaires, 60 of them were filled and returned, making 95 percent of the response rate.
The findings from the first objective established that corporate social responsibility offered by the firms help the community around. The study also revealed that most of the firms do not operate in areas affected by conflicts. Majority of the firms also revealed to have a vision statement, which defines the desired future. In addition, the findings from the study revealed that tastes, attitudes, and perceptions played a factor in leading floricultural firms to adopt new products. The findings from the second objective established that floricultural firm’s implements formulated strategies and they have been able to realize their short-term strategies as well as new programs to create new activities. It was also established that resources are allocated after preparation of budgets and the firms restructuring is done if there is need to. The findings from the third objective established that most company evaluates their strategies and utilize audits help to analyses if objectives have been met.
With regard to how strategy formulation affect competitiveness, it was concluded that corporate social responsibility is a good strategy when utilized to help the community around. Most firms need a vision statement, which defines the desired future. Floricultural firms to adoption of new products is determined by factors such as tastes, attitudes, and perceptions. It was also concluded that most of the firms in the floriculture industry have been able to implement formulated strategies as well as realize their short-term strategies. These firms have also initiated programs to create new activities and to do so they have managed to allocate their resources effectively through preparation of budgets. With regard to strategy evaluation in the floriculture industry it was concluded that most of the companies have been able to evaluate their strategies. While that is the case, most of the firms have also been able to utilize audits to establish if the objectives have been met. Such audits have also been utilized to provide information on performance.
The study recommended that there is a need for the employees in the industry to be educated on the importance of factors of strategy formulation in enabling competitiveness. Regarding strategy implementation and competitiveness it was concluded that firms in the sector need to ensure that procedures are put in place and this should be made clear to all employees. There is also a need to involve the top management steering in the implementation process and this would ensure continuous monitoring of the process. Information disseminated should also be encouraged for effective cooperation to all stakeholders. Due to the uncertainty regarding factors necessary for strategy evaluation it is necessary for the industry to ensure that the teams are well informed about use of the balanced score card and dash board in the business. For further studies the study recommended that there was a need to do a similar research in other firms in the agricultural sector so as to be able to compare the results and make conclusion. On the other hand, there is a need to undertake a study to determine the challenges facing strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation in the floriculture and this enabled the firms in the industry to be better prepared for any of the challenges that they may encounter during the processes
A Practitioners Perspective on the Impact of the New Companies Act 2015 in Improving the Ease of Business Registration in Kenya
No full textA Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master in Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the Companies Act 2015 in improving the ease of business registration in Kenya. The research questions for the study were: What is the impact of the Companies Act 2015 on the Convenience of business registration in Kenya, what is the impact of the Companies Act 2015 on the business registration Time and what is the impact of the Companies Act 2015 on the Cost of business registration.
The research adopted a descriptive design with professional bodies offering business registration and advisory services in Kenya, being the target group. The total population comprised of 10 Chief Executive Officers of 10 professional bodies. The study adopted purposive sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires, edited and analysed. The methodology used for data analysis was that the answers and responses to the in-depth questionnaire were carefully summarized on the basis of their relevance to the research questions. The analysed data was presented in form of tables and figures according to the research questions.
The study’s findings on the Impact of the Companies Act 2015 in Improving the Convenience of business registration are that the New Companies Act 2015 had greatly improved the convenience of business registration. This was achieved by the introduction of a unified Registration Form that is available online. The application is then submitted through Huduma Centers that are located countrywide.
The study’s findings on the Impact of the Companies Act 2015 on business Registration Time is that the New Act had improved the business registration time from an average of 1 month under the repealed Act, to an average of 1 week.
The study’s findings on the Impact of the New Companies Act 2015 on the cost of Business is that the cost had been drastically reduced. The cost had been reduced from a minimum of 20,000shs. to a standardized 10,000shs.
The conclusion of the study is that it is now more convenient to register a business in Kenya. Business registration is now cheaper. It now takes a shorter time to complete the registration process.
Registration is therefore accessible to more businesses. The study concludes that with the improved registration process, the ranking of Kenya as an investment destination will improve. The lower cost of business registration will also attract informal businesses to formalize their registration and become incorporated.
The study recommends that the government conducts public awareness campaigns on the new provisions of the Companies Act 2015, and that the registration process be improved further by streamlining and automating the registration procedures fully to allow online registration with minimum physical contact with the Companies Registry
Effect of Agile Supply Chain Strategy on Competitive Advantage of Firms in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry: A Case of Unilever Kenya
No full textA Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Master of Business Administration (MBA)The study sought to assess the effect of agile supply chain management on the competitive advantage of Unilever Kenya, an international FMCG operating in Kenya with a very wide market penetration and share in Kenya. The study sought to find answers to the research questions: To what extent does process integration, partners’ network, market sensitivity, and virtual enterprises affect the competitive advantage of Unilever Kenya?
The study answered these questions by adopting a descriptive research design on a population of 106 management employees within the Unilever Kenya Supply Chain department. Stratified random sampling technique was employed from which a sample of 36 employees was derived. To collect data from the sample respondents, the study utilized a closed-ended questionnaire. A five point Likert scale was employed in seeking responses for the closed-ended questions. A response rate of 86% was realized. During data analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tool was used for data analysis – both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of the data. Descriptive statistics included frequency distributions, mean and standard deviations whereas correlation and regression analysis were performed for inferential statistics.
The data was then presented in the form of tables and figures to communicate underlying patterns and to generalize the sample findings to the population.
The study found that Unilever Kenya has implemented process integration practices, such as focusing on management of core competencies, outsourcing non-core activities, leveraging shared information with partners, joint product development, and focus on integrating with distributors, suppliers and internally within functions confirming that process integration at the firm is at an advanced stage. The study established existence of a significant positive influence of process integration practices at the firm on the company competitive advantage.
Virtual enterprise practices were also observed to exist at the firm. The study found existence of a framework involving exchange of data between the firm, its consumers, suppliers, and competitors relying on information technology, and consequently creating a virtual supply chain creating a network of suppliers, manufacturers and administrative services to accomplish specific objectives for the firm. Further analysis confirmed that virtual enterprises contribute to the gain in competitive advantage by sharing infrastructures, research and development and resources; linking complementary core competencies; reducing concept-to-cash time through information sharing; expanding production capabilities; gaining access to markets, and sharing markets or customer loyalty with partners in the virtual supply chain.
It was found that Unilever Kenya works within a network of strategic partners, has a great influence in running the network of partners, focuses on development of long term stable relationships with its partners, who (the partners) have valuable resource profiles, have joint rules of engagement with the partners, share clear joint vision with partners, and employs a non competitive approach to information flow/knowledge transfer, an indication that its partners network practices are well advanced. It was further observed that partner’s network practices at the firm increased the probability of the firm’s competitiveness.
The study revealed that Unilever Kenya is to a great extent market sensitive in both customer and competitor viewpoints. It was observed that market sensitivity offers higher levels of service quality and customer satisfaction generating increased customer loyalty, price leadership and profitability and hence firm competitiveness. The study found that market sensitivity offers the firm a positively competitive advantage.
The study therefore confirmed that agile supply chain management represented by its four elements of process integration, partners’ network, market sensitivity, and virtual enterprises have
a significant positive influence on competitive advantage at Unilever Kenya. Agile supply chain was found to influence the company’s production lead times, on-time-in-full scores, flexibility in responding to changes, products preference by target customers, and product prices. The study therefore concludes that agile supply chain management is an important strategy in the FMCG industry as it influences the firm’s competitiveness.
The study recommends that Unilever Kenya management should further enhance agile supply chain elements of process integration, partners’ network, market sensitivity, and virtual enterprises in their firm to ensure that they are able to acquire the benefit of gaining or improving the competitive advantage. The study also suggests a further comparative study to be undertaken to assess the influence of agile supply chain management on the competitive advantage targeting the whole FMCG industry
Factors Influencing the Growth of Women Owned Businesses in Kenya
No full textA Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The general objective of this study was to establish the factors influencing the growth of women owned businesses in Kenya. The specific objectives for the study were: To determine how socio-economic factors affect the growth of women owned businesses; To establish how personal characteristic affect the growth of women owned businesses and final to find out how support influences the growth of women owned businesses;
This study employed a descriptive research design through a survey. The study focused on a population of 812 business women. They included all women owned handicraft businesses in the three handicraft markets in Nairobi; Westland’s Triangle Market, City Market and Village Market. Data was collected from 269 respondents who were selected using the stratified random sampling technique from the three different markets. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Research findings on the education and experience revealed that the majority of women had low level education and did not practice bookkeeping and budgeting in their businesses. The findings on family and work balance indicated that most of the women were married and did not get any support from their husbands. The results on financing showed that lack of capital was one of the problems affecting the growth of women owned business. They reciprocally used and invested income from the businesses on family expenditure. The study’s findings on personal qualities, networking and support revealed that women had a desire to achieve but did not have confidence, hence limiting their chances of running a successful business. In addition, most women ran their businesses themselves without support from any supporting group.
The study concluded that the general level of education of women in small scale businesses is still low and thus the wide spread lack of good business management skills and knowledge. Lack of family support had contributed to poor performance in the women owned businesses. Few (about half) of the women had access to the loan facilities. Lack of good leadership qualities and the desire to achieve had led to poor performance in their businesses. The level of networking among the business women is very low.
The study recommends micro finance institutions should provide access to credit for women entrepreneurs at the level of micro and small-scale enterprises, through innovative programs and financing arrangements that go beyond the conventional approaches. Married women should be given support by their spouses in respect of finances, motivational encouragement, advice and actual involvement in the running of business. Women Enterprise Fund should make provisions in its policies and procedures to support individual women micro entrepreneurs through trainings to improve financial literacy for women entrepreneurs. The government should provide special programmes to train, build capacity and mentor women particularly in entrepreneurship to change women mind set to make women- owned enterprises more competitive and continuously work towards providing conducive business environment. In addition, the government should support women micro entrepreneurs to form co-operatives to save and access credit more rapidly to improve their enterprises. Women entrepreneurs are encouraged to join stakeholder network groups to socialize and benefit from contacts