Belief Control Practices and Organizational Performances: A Survey of Sugar Industry in Kenya

Abstract

The sugar industry has experienced poor performance attributed to industry deregulation, poor management and political interference. Adopting the Simons Levers of Control framework, this study sought to establish the relationship between belief control practices and organizational performance in the sugar industry in Kenya. Using a census survey of the 45 firms in the sugar industry value-chain in western Kenya registered by the Kenya Sugar Board as at 1st January 2008, data was collected through self administered questionnaires sent to chief executive officers, finance managers and marketing officers of the target companies. The main finding of the study was that belief control systems are moderately prevalent in firms in the sugar industry and that belief control has a significant positive relationship with organizational performance ( = 0.288, p < 0.05). The findings of this study underscore the need of management to incorporate employees in the company core values and design of strategic control systems to cope with changing internal and external operating business environments. The study advances the extant theory of strategic management control practices by providing evidences from emerging economy and on a focused single lever of management control.