Turnaround Strategies Adopted by Kenya Planters Cooperative Union in Kenya

Abstract

Turnaround strategies involve components of managing, stabilizing, funding and fixing an underperforming or distressed company. The overall goal of turnaround strategy is to return a distressed company to normal in terms of acceptable levels of profitability, solvency, liquidity and cash flow. Kenya planters‟ cooperative union is one of the companies whose operation was compromised by bad governance, unscheduled reforms and strict control of initial processing and milling of coffee. The main objectives of the study were to identify the turnaround strategies adopted by Kenya Planters Cooperative Union for turnaround and to establish the challenges faced by KPCU when implementing the turnaround strategies. The best theory that addressed the impetus of the study was the theory of leadership. This study adopted a case study research design given that the unit of analysis is based on one organization that is Kenya Planters Cooperative Union (KPCU). Employees in managerial position working at Kenya Planters Cooperative Union were the targeted interviewees. Primary data was used in the study. This was carried out by use of an interview guide and results obtained were analysed qualitatively. The study found that cutback strategies and restructuring through replacement of board of the company were among various turnaround strategies adopted by KPCU in order to revive the organization. The challenges faced were inadequate/ineffective leadership, lack of efficiency in operations, low automation levels, lack of a clear strategy, inadequate capital and resistance from the employees as people wanted to stick to the old practices. The study recommends that in order to deal with the challenges faced by KPCU in the implementation of the turnaround strategy, companies should not let external groups and institutions interfere with their operation and in the case of addressing the challenges faced, they should have alternatives and hire employees with right competences.