Stakeholder involvement in change management at Kenya Ports Authority

Abstract

Organisations are embracing stakeholder management in their strategic operations in order to gain competitive advantage in business. Stakeholders have become an integral part of KPA in their different capacities as shareholders, customers, staff, government agents, the general public, suppliers and business partners. Involvement of stakeholders raises the chances of provision of better services and products that are more customer oriented. It has been suggested that the stakeholders' involvement in change management is important for the success of the change initiatives. The environment that organisations operate in is turbulent and they require initiatives that can bring about incremental changes that can serve to propel the organisation forward. Stakeholders need to be involved from the beginning of the change process and kept updated throughout the process. This study delved into the intricacies of stakeholder management particularly the aspect of extent of stakeholder involvement in change management and the factors that influence this involvement. This research was conducted through a case study by primarily employing interview guides and semi-structured questionnaires as data collection tools. Data was collected from KPA management, its staff and external stakeholders. Data collected from management and KPA staff with the aid of interview guides was analysed using content analysis. Data collected using semi-structured questionnaires was analysed using content analysis and descriptive analysis. The study determined that KPA was involving its stakeholders in its initiatives though this was not being done at all stages of the process. The organisation needs to involve its stakeholders more especially in the planning phase of the changes in order to gain more from the stakeholders' contributions which could be very vital in charting its way forward. Furthermore, the organisation needs to do proper stakeholder management for it to gain from its benefits. This can be achieved by putting proper policies in place and reinforcing them with constant practice.