Strategic change management practices and performance of Kenya Commercial Bank group

Abstract

Organizations have nowadays been under intense pres sure to fundamentally change how they do business if they have to ensure their survi val and competitiveness. Organizations are strongly influenced by their environment which consists of forces of an economic, political, or social nature. The environment also p rovides key resources that sustain the organization and lead to change and survival. Becau se the performance of firms is dependent on the fit between firms and their extern al environment, then change in external environment requires firms to adapt to the se changes. As a result, firms would change their strategy in response to the environmen tal changes.The pace of global, economic and technological development makes change an inevitable feature of organizational life. This study examined the strate gic change management practices adopted by Kenya commercial bank limited and influe nce of the strategic change management practices on the bank’s performance. Ken ya commercial bank group limited embarked on a transformational change program aimed at moving the bank from good to great through embedding a performance culture of di scipline, passion, ownership and teamwork that would place KCB as a brand that is to p-of-mind with exceptional financial performance that will allow the bank to invest in t he future and fully reward shareholders and employees. This was a case study with the unit of analysis being Kenya Commercial Bank group Limited. The study is significant to sch olars and business researchers where they will be able to relate strategic change manage ment and performance in a real working environment and interrogate existing theori es and concepts in the area of strategic management. Data was obtained by intervie wing senior managers of the bank. The qualitative data was then analyzed using conten t analysis allowing the researcher to systematically and objectively identify specific ch aracteristics and relate trends. The study found a positive relationship between strateg ic change management practices and performance of the bank. The study recommends that change process should involve the participation of all employees, should be communica ted clearly, frequently and through several channels, certain aspects of the change pro gram should be delegated clearly explaining limits of the responsibilities and manag ers should foster a change culture in their organizations. The study’s limitations includ ed limited time set aside for the study, limited scope of study and securing face to face in terviews with senior managers of KCB group limited due to their busy schedules. The stud y suggests further research on strategic change management practices and performan ce of commercial banks in Kenya to supplement the findings of this study as well as identify other influences on performance of banks in Kenya.