An Assessment of Strategy Implementation in Organizations: A Case of KENBRO Industries

A Research Project Report Submitted to Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters of Business Administration (MBA)The purpose of the study was to assess strategy implementation in organizations. Kenbro Industries was used as a case. The study was guided by the following research questions; What are the roles of top management in strategy implementation? What are the benefits of strategy implementation in Kenbro Industries? What are the challenges faced in strategy implementation at Kenbro Industries? The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional survey. The population for this study comprised of all the fifty top management and middle management of Kenbro Industries. Judgmental sampling technique was used in the study due to the fact that top management and middle management are responsible for strategy implementation. The data collection was carried out in the month of June 2015 through the use of structured questionnaires. The analysis involved descriptive statistics, regression analysis and crosstabulations to draw inferences about the characteristics of the entire population. Tables and figures were used in the presentation of the results. The first research question sought to determine the roles of top management in strategy implementation at Kenbro industries. The study showed that in the process of strategy implementation, top leadership at Kenbro industries determine the strategic direction for their organizations; create a balanced organizational control; and encourage ethical practices. The second research question sought to determine the benefits of strategy implementation at Kenbro industries. The study showed that strategy implementation acts a source of competitive advantage; and lead to greater environmental awareness. On the other side, there was no evidence to show that strategy implementation leads to reduced resistance to change; and enhanced staff morale and productivity at Kenbro industries. The third research question sought to determine the challenges that affect strategy implementation at Kenbro industries. The study showed that the communication of organizational strategy during implementation presented a challenge to Kenbro industries. On the other hand, the study disagreed that there is a conflict between the workforce goals and organizational strategies. The study also disagreed that human capital at Kenbro industries is ineffective in strategy implementation. Lastly the study disagreed that that resource allocation at Kenbro is not aligned with the strategy implementation. The study recommends that, since the study has demonstrated that the Kenbro industries have put measures to ensure that there is top management support for strategy implementation, yet the level of agreement as to whether the top leadership sets strategic direction for their organizations; create a balanced organizational control; and encourage ethical practices each scores less than 70 percent. To fully benefit, Kenbro industries needs to ensure visible and complete support from the top management. While the study showed that strategy implementation acts a source of competitive advantage as it leads to superior service quality; highly differentiated products; and makes the organization to be the organization of choice, the study further showed that majority disagreed that strategy implementation leads to lowest prices for value offered compared to other competitors. There seems to be contradictions in these two findings. Therefore more studies would be welcome to clarify the issue. The study also showed lack of evidence as to whether strategy implementation leads to enhanced staff morale and productivity at Kenbro industries contrary to existing literature and the fact that it leads to low staff turnover; and highly efficient staff. Further studies would be welcome to support this position. Further, the study identified communication as the weakest link in strategy implementation at Kenbro industries. The organization should put measures to ensure that the organizations’ strategy effectively communicated to the entire workforce; and make sure that all employees are in a position to expressly communicate the organization’s vision. Finally, since the current study was only limited to top management, furthers studies covering the entire workforce would be welcome. Furthermore studies carried out at different time zones would enrich validation of the current findings