The state of strategic management practices in not-for-profit organizations: the case of public membership clubs in Nairobi

Abstract

When most people think of a club, they commonly have in mind a multitude of values and images, conceiving lash landscapes separate from everyday life. The character and pace of club life are calm, reserved, withdrawn and removed from the daily hubbub of work. Moreover the club is thought of as a privileged space, whose settings form a separate landscape both visually and socially - one shaped by the forces of economic success and social status. The club is unavoidably a material landscape, providing a visual presence of values that cannot be readily ignored, and a material culture that cannot be readily understood. It has evolved to meet not only the tastes and lifestyles of club members but also an institution's requirements for economic efficiency. It is filled with employees, serviced by related businesses, and managed to provide for its members. It is a space moreover whose boundaries are molded by external economic and social pressures that allow for physical growth or deterioration. The evidence of esteem is unavoidably political and fragmented, reflecting the multiple realities people perceive and act on. Some who admire the club-life are intimidated by their inability to become members; others, who have the education and income to feel comfortable in it, may rejects its values. Last, people who aspire to create and to sustain the club life are often quite comfortable with the status quo and do not wish their social values to be challenged. The purpose of this study was to investigate the state of strategic management practices in these clubs. The focus of the study was public membership clubs situated in Nairobi and its immediate environs. Given the expanding visibility of the not-for-profit sector, it is not surprising that there has been a rapid increase in the amount of published research on strategic management in this sector. But this has predominantly been in the developed country contexts. Very little has been done in Africa, more so in Kenya. The study had two main objectives; • to establish the state of strategy practices within public membership clubs • to identify the factors that influence the development of strategy in public membership clubs To achieve these objectives primary data was collected through a serrustructured questionnaire addressed to the Club Secretary and in his absence the Manager of the Club. Then appropriate interviews were set up, to enable the researcher capture any additional information. One of the purposes of strategic management is to assist in the survival of the organization over time. Clubs were the creation of the British settlers, most of them being formed in the early part of the 1900' s. The clubs studied did not appear to have concrete strategies in place to ensure their survival, and yet they continue to attract large numbers of prospective membership. The findings of this study indicated that clubs are unique in their management structure. They are created by members, run by the same members (who organize themselves into committees), and invariably managed by the members. With this unique setting in place, there is certainly a conflict of interest as to what objectives should be pursued, who should implement them, and who is accountable to whom. Clubs are also very conservative in nature, both in their styles of management and in the nature in which the decision making process is undertaken. The Management Committee plays a dominant role to the extent of sometimes making decisions which may be useful to the growth and expansion of the club, but unpopular to members The findings of this study also indicated that some of these clubs engaged strategic management practices to varying degrees. However the dominant role played by the Management Committee showed that strategies were poorly implemented. As a result these clubs did not enjoy the benefits of the use of strategy suggested in the literature reviewed.