The Influence of Strategy Implementation Antecedents on Organizational Performance: A Case Study of the Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies in Nairobi In 2016

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of strategy implementation antecedents on organizational performance. This study was guided by the following specific objectives: To determine the influence of firm’s structure in strategy implementation on organizational performance. To determine the influence of leadership in strategy implementation on organizational performance. To determine the influence of firms culture in strategy implementation on organizational performance. The researcher’s selected a descriptive research design and the research’s population was based on the top management preferably the CEO’s of the Top 100 SME’s in Kenya. The research chose to do a census on all the 100 companies that are in Nairobi Country. The sturdy focused on primary data which was collected from the target population, using questionnaires which had structured questions that have been designed in line with each of the research objectives. The research issued a total of 100 questionnaires and a total of 80 were filled and returned giving a response rate of 80%. Correlations were done between the dependent and independent variables to test their relationships and the findings presented in tables. Analysis of the variables of structure revealed that organizational formation is a formal process and the organizational structure is influenced by business type. It was also revealed that current structure creates an atmosphere that allow for innovation and the structure can either promote or impede successful strategy implementation. The findings also show that organizational structure affect efficiency and the structure of the firm affects the organizational performance. Analysis of the firm’s leadership revealed that majority of the respondents agreed that the leadership is highly trained and competent and the leadership influence strategy implementation. It was also revealed that leadership aid employee efficiency and current Leadership allow for innovation. The finding also indicated that leadership affects performance. An analysis of the influence of culture on strategy implementation revealed that most respondents agreed that the success of strategy implementation lies on the firm’s ability to transform learning to action and culture affect performance. In addition, culture aids employee efficiency and it also affect strategy implementation. The researcher analyzed relationship between the dependent variable (organization performance) against other v core factors (Structure, Leadership and Culture). The results showed that 41.2% of the variation in organization performance was explained by the variations in structure, leadership and culture. The study concluded that among the top 100 SMEs in Kenya, organization formation is a formal process and the individual organization structure is influenced by business type or industry where the firm belongs. It was also concluded that maintaining top 100 position in the Kenyan SME spectra is a daunting task and as such, leadership is highly trained and competent. Finally, the success of strategy implementation in the SMES is fully dependent on the firm’s ability to transform learning to action. It was recommended that SMEs need to keep innovating to increase efficiency in the production processes, there is also a need to evaluate the structural models in place so as to eliminate channels that impede successful strategy implementation. Secondly, SMEs should continue having a trained and competent leadership so as to guarantee positive organizational developments. Thirdly, SMEs need to maintain a culture of transform facts learnt into attainable action. Further studies should be done to establish how other internal factors influence strategy implementation and organizational performance. The study could also be extended to determine how external factors affect in strategy implementation and organizational performance of the top 100 SMEs.