Factors Affecting Change Management in Telecommunication Industry: A Case Study of Telkom Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the determinant of change management in the telecommunication industry with a focus on Telkom Kenya Ltd. The Research was guided by the following research questions: Does the Structure of the organization affect change management in Telkom Kenya? Does the leadership of the organization affect change management in Telkom Kenya? Does the culture of the Organization affect change management in Telkom Kenya? The research assumed a descriptive research method in analyzing, interpreting, and presenting data. The study focused on 99 employees including the managing director, senior managers, line managers and the staff members at the Enterprise Division in Telkom Kenya Ltd. A well-planned and carefully constructed questionnaire was used for data collection. The Questionnaires were distributed to the different respondents by hand and thereafter collected after submission. Out of the 99 target population, a total of 85 questionnaires were filled and returned giving a response rate of 86% and this was sufficient for the study. Descriptive statistics which include frequencies and percentages was computed for presenting and analyzing the data. Also, the research undertook inferential statistics by the use of correlation and regression analysis to establish the relationship between the variables and this was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The findings established a relationship between the dependent variable (Change management) and organization structure, the result established a strong positive relationship between the variables which was significant thus an increase in organizational structure results to improved change management. An analysis of research of the relationship between the dependent variable (Change management) and organization structure showed that the significant variation in change management was explained by the variations in organization structure. The findings established a relationship between the dependent variable (Change management) and organization leadership resulted to a strong positive relationship between the variables. Therefore, an increase in organizational leadership results to improved change management. The research analyzed relationship between the dependent variable (Change management) and organization leadership. The results showed that a significant variation in change management was explained by the variations in organization leadership. The findings established a relationship between the dependent variable (Change management) and organization culture, established a strong positive relationship between the variables and was significant, therefore, an increase in organizational culture results to improved change management. The research analyzed relationship between the dependent variable (Change management) and organization culture. The results showed that there was a significant variation in change management that was explained by the variations in organization culture. The study concluded that there are formal and informal evaluation processes in place at Telkom Kenya and due to the involvement, staff appreciate the differences between the firm now and before the recent change. It was also concluded that the firm has an increase in organizational leadership results into improved change management in addition; there exist mechanisms to ensure the changed state becomes the normal way of working. The study recommends that employees should be encouraged to embrace change as thus has enabled learning opportunities to be easily available and this is effective when stakeholders are kept informed throughout the change process. It is also necessary for the institution to ensure that it has in place processes to ensure efficient consultation with the different stakeholder groups for easy change management through increased support. Finally, managers as role models need to encourage their teams to come up with suggestions for improvement. Further studies ought to be done on other telecommunication companies to be able compare the effect of structure, leadership and culture of the organization on change management in the sector as a whole. There is also a need to establish other factors affecting change management that are not covered in this study.