Strategy implementation and its challenges in Public corporations: the case of Telkom Kenya Limited

Abstract

The main critical phase of strategic management process is translating strategic thought into organizational action. Once strategies have been formulated, they need to be implemented. Without successful implementation, the company will not obtain the result that it intended. Telkom Kenya limited like other public corporations operates in a complex environment, which is more unpredictable and less stable. The company's objectives are more ambiguous and less distinguishable and fluctuate in their order of priority depending on government's ever changing political agenda. Management does not have freedom to optimise its own performance in executing developed strategies. The objective of this study was to find out the extent of strategy implementation and also to identify challenges that the company has encountered during implementation . •• The research results obtained indicate that TKL formulated and documented its strategies in 1~99. In its first four years the execution of these strategies has been average. It is evident from the results that the company has not been referring to its master plan whenever they embark on development programmes. It is clear that government control and lack of funds has interfered with the company's strategy implementation programme. Poor leadership style, limited IT capacity and poor corporate culture are the main challenges faced by the company in the process of strategy implementation.