Strategic Management Practices in Parliament of Kenya

Abstract

The main purpose of the study was to establish the strategic management practices undertaken at Parliament of Kenya. The study was carried out through a case study design where the unit of study was sought to find out the strategic management practices at the Parliament of Kenya. The study made use of both primary and secondary data. The respondents of the study were ten (10) managers drawn from various departments. They included the Human resource Manager, Accounts Manager, ICT Manager, Legal Officer, Public relations manager, and budget officer and many others. Both the primary and secondary data was qualitative in nature. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings of the study established that the strategic management practices in Parliament of Kenya by reviewing the evaluation of strategic management practices, the organizational performance and the challenges facing strategic management practices. The findings established that the strategic planning processes are reviewed constantly in order to improve on performance and performance measures. The role of managers is crucial in strategy management practices. They contribute content; act as the link between organizational levels and between the organizational levels and between the organizational level and direct reports and they serve as performance role models. The strategic steps and processes in planning and implementation include: evaluate the strategic plan; create a vision for implementing the strategic plan; select team members to help implement the strategic plan; schedule meetings to discuss progress reports and involve the upper management where appropriate. The process of strategic management is a continuous one that changes as the organizational goals and objectives evolve. Strategic planning can help to improve the performance of the organization by committing to the strategic planning procedures to reduce risk. The importance of a clear vision and mission; none of the subsequent steps will matter if the organization is not certain where it is headed. An important part of strategic planning is always monitoring and adapting the plan to survive changing and unanticipated conditions. Strategy should include a clear set of long-term goals; it should define the scope the firm and it should have a clear statement of what competitive advantage it will achieve and sustain. Strategy should represent the firm’s internal context that will allow it to achieve a competitive advantage in the environment in which it has chosen to compete. Strategy should only consider opportunity without much regard for possibilities and limits.