Challenges of Strategy Implementation at the National Police Service in Kenya

Abstract

The strategy implementation process is a very vital process in the sustainability of the organization. A company that implements its strateg ies is more likely to achieve its objectives as to ones that doesn’t. The objective o f the study was to establish strategy implementation challenges faced by national Police Service and to determine the measures taken by the National Police service to ad dress the challenges faced by the service in strategy implementation. Despite the var ious studies on the challenges of strategy implementation by state corporations and h ow these organization have responded to the challenges there has been less focus on the security agencies in the country. The research therefore sought to close this gap by focu sing on the national police service especially now that the constitution of Kenya and n ational Police act has realigned its organization structure. The study employed a case s tudy research design where interviews were conducted through use of interview guide. Six senior managers in charge of overseeing strategy implementation at the nation al police service were interviewed. Data collected was analyzed using content analysis where inadequate resources, lack of appropriate technology, Political interference, evo lution of international terrorism, inadequate human resources, insufficient funds and change of Government rules and regulations were revealed as some of the factors af fecting implementation of the strategies. Some of the measures suggested include d the need to align the organization culture to its strategy, ISO certification of polic e, benchmarking, motivation of staff to enhance performance, accountability of the leaders, need to invest in modern communication technology, strengthening organizatio n values and teamwork. Strategy formulation process in the organization projects fo llows a top-down approach while implementation process adopts a bottom up approach. These disconnect in the strategy process of the organization and insufficient funds have in some way brought about challenges in the success of implementing the set s trategies. The NPS should continue lobbying for more funds and involve all stake holde rs in strategy formulation. Further research on the same should be conducted at county levels or departments.