The role of executive development in corporate strategy implementation: a comparative study of Kenya commercial bank ltd and national bank of Kenya ltd

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether executive development enhances strategy implementation. The research question was; does executive development play in organizational strategy implementation? The research design for this research was a comparative study on the role of executive development in strategy implementation at two Kenyan banks, Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd (KCB) and National Bank of Kenya Ltd (NBK). This research was based on creating arid testing new interpretations rather than in generalizations or making inferences. The object of the case study under study was to locate the factors that account for the behaviour patterns of the executive development in relation to corporate strategy implementation and in general the entire organization. An in depth study of the role of executive development in KCB and NBK has been done with a special emphasis on whether it facilitates strategy implementation. NBK and KCB both realize that well equipped executives confer competitive advantage to their companies. They have invested in executive development in the belief that highly-qualified managers will contribute to improving their competitive capabilities to achieve strategic goals. Both are involved in the open enrolment executive programmes with local and international Business Schools. They feel that the local Universities should be interacting more with their customers so as to understand their strategic challenges and in turn offer the professionals real world strategies that they can apply on the job. KCB has a better developed executive training programme and has been successful in strategy implementation. NBK has not developed theirs and there is little evidence of successful strategy implementation. The researcher found that there is a correlation between the improved quality of its staff after executive development and success in strategy implementation in the two banks studied. Executive education programs should be a standard component of corporate training in the banks and other organizations to ensure innovative and informed leadership that will successfully overcome the challenges of strategy implementation.