Strategic Management Practices And Performance Of Large Pharmaceutical Firms In Kenya

Abstract

Strategic management practices bring to life strategic plans in organizations thus determining the achievement of desired outcomes by firms in any industry. These practices determine successful implementation or failure to implement strategic plans no matter how good they are. The study focused on strategic management practices and performance across firms in the pharmaceutical industry in Kenya. these study was conducted as a cross-sectional survey and the researcher used questionnaires as primary data tools. Questionnaires were either hand delivered or emailed to senior managers in the firms that had been sampled out as representation of the entire target population and were later collected upon completion. The data collected was qualitative and was analyzed using content analysis. The study found out that large firms of pharmaceutical industry in Kenya have adopted strategic management practices with most strategic initiatives having been discussed in detail in the data analysis and interpretation chapter here in. it was also clear that the activities implemented by the firms impact performance across the various functional areas within firms in this industry. These functional areas include internal business process coordination, customer service, marketing, distribution, human resource management and finance. They also impact learning and development within the firms. This study had a limitation in that firms that were involved in data collection were based in Nairobi, though most had branches or outlets across the country hence it is expected that the findings can be generalized across large firms pharmaceutical firms in Kenya. Further study should be conducted to establish the effect of strategic management practices on financial performance of firms in pharmaceutical industry in Kenya.