Strategy implementation in Kenya ports authority

Abstract

The ability to implement strategies successfully is important to any organization. Despite the importance of the implementation process within strategic management, this is an area of study often overshadowed by a focus on the strategy formulation process. Implementation, the conceptual counterpart of strategy formulation, has been regarded as an extremely challenging area in management practice. Still, strategy implementation has received remarkably less attention in the strategic management literature. The existing implementation frameworks are mostly normative and rather limited. This study explores the strategy implementation practices in terms of organizational activities, by focusing on two questions: to determine the strategy implementation practices in Kenya Ports Authority find out what are challenges to successful strategy implementation at Kenya Ports Authority. The research questions are addressed, in which qualitative data from 285 interviews plus rich supplementary archival data are generated and analyzed with a grounded theory approach. The participants were from the various Departments of Kenya Ports Authority. Other sources of data such as research articles and secondary company data sources were also used. The findings revealed that KPA has experienced barriers while implementing its strategies. It also reveals that it adopted master plan 2004-2029 in 2004. It is clear that Government interference and regulations, People not being measured or rewarded for executing the plan, Poor communication about execution of strategy among multiple levels in the organization, Senior managers simply failing to put a priority on strategy, Failure to understand progress (no measurement of indicators of success or failure), are ranking high as the main challenges of strategy implementation in Kenya ports authority.