A survey of strategic management practices in reproductive health NGOs operating in Kenya

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to exam me the extent to which Kenyan Reproductive Health NGOs apply the strategic management process in developing and implementing their programs and to examine the strategic responses by Kenyan Reproductive Health NGOs to the changes facing the Kenyan health sector. The changes in the Kenyan health sector include rapid developments in the health sector are namely, health sector reforms, declining resources, and shifting and increasing client demands. The main thrust of the study was to establish whether strategic management practices have been successfully implemented in meeting the challenges facing Reproductive Health NGOs within this changing health sector environment. These challenges include continued population growth, a stagnant economy and per capita incomes, declining health sector financial resources, slow health sector reforms and decentralization and the HIV and AIDS crisis. The respondents included the NGO founders/leaders or chief executives or, if these were unavailable, a board member from the organization. Interviews were carried out through personal interviews, email or telephone interviews. We managed to receive 27 completed questionnaires from founders, finance managers, program managers or the administrative managers fr0111the various institutions. 'I, • v Results indicate that majority of the NGOs conduct some form of strategic management. They have a vision and formulate missions. They are passionate and effective in what they do and are keen to establish themselves as credible agents for change. However, they stagger when they are confronted with the challenge of translating their vision and mission into tangible strategies. Further results show that very few of the Reproductive Health NGOs fully comprehend the Health Sector Reforms or even have the ability to seize the opportunities offered by the changing arena. Majority of the NGOs are unlikely to focus on long term operation within the sector given their lack of attention to the policy changes within the sector. It is not surprising that the NGO sector is dominated by numerous small NGOs with limited coverage, working in isolation, uncoordinated and often duplicating efforts. This also explains why many NGOs are not aligned to system wide issues. The NGOs consider the donor shifts as critical to their operations. Although this is important, the high degree of donor dependency cripples the NGOs ability to think freely and even to develop a strategy. It is critical for NGOs to re-assess their focus of attention. Once the donor priorities change the NGOs are forced to shift their priorities thus resulting in numerous small NGOs with limited coverage, working in isolation, uncoordinated and often duplicating efforts and potential risk of folding operations in the event of no funding. Vl Client needs assessment was mentioned as having been conducted by a minority of the NGOs. Many NGOs rely on quarterly evaluations which most likely measure the internal operations of the organization and the accounting and reporting. The need to establish the client needs and client responses remains a challenge to many NGOs. In the current environment where customer care is a critical factor this raises concern. The study is in five parts. The first part contains an introduction to the study, objectives of the study and need for the study. The second part provides a theoretical framework of strategic management practice with a focus on Reproductive Health programs. Details of the research methodology appear in the third part, and results are presented in the fourth part. The questionnaire used in the study is appended at the end of the paper. The study is summarized and concluded in the fifth and final part.