Strategic Management Practices and Challenges of Kenyan Projects Assisted by Compassion International in Limuru Region

Abstract

Strategic management has of late been utilized by most organisations to position them competitively in an ever changing and turbulent environment. This is gaining popularity in both the profit making and not for profit making organisations. A successful strategic management process enables the organisations in the NGO sector to efficiently and effectively utilize the donor funds and at the same time meet the demanding needs of the beneficiaries. The main aim of this study was to establish the strategic management practices and challenges of Kenyan projects assisted by Compassion International in Limuru region. The study took the form of a census survey because the number of projects assisted by Compassion International in Limuru region were few hence no justification for sampling. Data was collected from the respondents who were project directors through a structured questionnaire. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics as well as frequencies and percentages. The findings were presented in tables and charts. The study established that the common strategic management practices among the projects include conducting an environmental analysis through a SWOT analysis, developing strategic objectives, coming up with action plans for implementation, developing performance indicators, evaluation of actual performance and comparing the same with the desired performance, involvement of stakeholders in the strategic management process and ensuring that there is corrective action to streamline the strategic management process. Challenges include resistance to change, lack of top management support, and lack of finances among others. In order to improve the strategic management process, the study recommends allocation of funds to the process, involvement of all the stakeholders and review of the existing policies that seem to hinder the success of the process.