Strategic Change Management Practices at Local Authorities in the Coast Province of Kenya

Abstract

Strategic Change Management is part of strategic management and is also referred as change control. It is a collection of formal documented procedures that defines how project deliverables and documentation will be controlled, changed and approved. Local authorities are public institutions which have statutory mandate to undertake service delivery to Kenyans. In the Coast Province of Kenya there are 13 local authorities. With the implementation of the constitution, these institutions are expected to change drastically. This is a survey on strategic change management practices in all the local authorities in the Coast Province of Kenya. The survey is addressing two objectives namely, to determine change management practices in the local authorities in the Coast Province of Kenya and to determine factors affecting change management practices at the local authorities in the Coast Province. The guiding research question is, what are the change management practices currently in place at the local authorities in Coast Province of Kenya and what factors are affecting these practices? The data collected had been analyzed using statistical tools to arrive at the findings which had formed the basis for conclusions and recommendations. Even though local authorities studied are undertaking change management initiatives, the structures and practices are still wanting. The established factors affecting change management practices are resistance to change, management support, change of operating environment, drivers of strategic change, competitive advantage, survival of local authorities and people, changes caused by other institutions, funding, monitoring and evaluation, coalition building, organization culture, self propelled change and changes of customers and usage of services of local authorities.