Role of Strategic Corporate Communication in Organizational Change Management: A Case of Capital Markets Authority of Kenya

Abstract

Organizations often undergo change in response to the changing business landscape occasioned by market factors, technological factors, and regulatory factors among other reasons. Organizations must remain agile and competitive to survive. Strategic corporate communication plays a pivotal role in this important process by enhancing proper dissemination of information regarding the change, creating buy-in, reducing resistance, getting feedback, and creating a positive attitude towards the change. However, the failure rate of organizational change initiatives is still high, and lack of effective communication has been identified as one of the major barriers. Despite the benefits of strategic communication as demonstrated by various researchers, the uptake remains low among corporate organizations. This study sought to examine role of strategic corporate communications during organizational change management at CMA to identify solutions to the existing problem, and as an empirical test on the importance of communication in change management. The specific objectives were to identify the aspects of strategic communication that are useful for constructive change, to determine the factors the influence the uptake of strategic communication, and to establish the nexus between strategic communication and constructive change. The study used the systems theory and the excellence theory which guided the examination of the nexus between strategic corporate communication and change management. The independent variables were organizational objectives, organizational mission, and organizational vision while the independent variable was change management, and the intervening variables were communication competence, leadership, and organizational behavior. The study was qualitative in nature and adopted an exploratory research design. The population was 30 staff at CMA selected using the purposive sampling approach. Data was collected using Key Informant Interviews and two Focus Group Discussions and the analysis was carried out using thematic analysis to identify the emerging themes in line with the research objectives. The study found that timely communication, open communication, effective feedback management, effective use of communication channels depending on the needs of specific audience groups, balancing between formal and informal communication channels, creativity and innovation in communication, clarity in communication, competence in communication by the top leadership who set the pace for change communication, and more involvement of staff as opposed to just passing information to them, are essential communication aspects that drive constructive change. Based on the findings, the fundamental recommendations of the study are; Timely, clear and consistent communication, implementation of robust feedback mechanisms and ways of responding to feedback, adoption of creative and innovative ways of communicating, a multi-channel approach to communication, aligning the organizational structure and culture to ensure that they are supportive of efficient, open and effective communication. The study further recommends that leaders should set the right tone at the top and play an exemplary role in communication before, during, and after change. In addition, the study recommends an open-door employee-employer relations strategy where the board, management and subordinates can meet and openly discuss organizational issues without fear of any form of victimization.