The Importance of Strategic Content, Strategic Context and Organizational Process Factors to Effective Strategy Implementation: A Case Study of Deloitte Kenya

A Research Project Report Submitted to the Chandaria School of Business in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)One of the long outstanding problems faced by managers and practitioners in the field of strategic management has been the high rate of failure of organizational strategies. It is estimated that approximately 80 to 90% of all organizational strategies fail. Research has identified that the primary reason why most strategies fail is due to a lack of theoretically sound yet practical models to guide the decisions and actions of managers during the strategy implementation process. The purpose of this study therefore was to examine the importance of strategic content, strategic context and organizational process factors to effective strategy implementation, using Deloitte Kenya as a case study. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population comprised members of staff of Deloitte Kenya with responsibilities for strategy implementation, namely the managers, directors and partners. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample that was investigated for purposes of this study. The population was stratified into low/operational-level, mid-level and senior-level management. The sample size was computed using Yamane’s (1967) formula. This yielded a sample size of 89 management staff, which was increased to 90. The study used primary data collected using a structured questionnaire that was administered online via the Internet. A total of 68 complete responses were received, representing a 75.56% response rate. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviations were used to analyse the quantitative data and capture the characteristics of the variables under study. Inferential statistics were used to test the nature and magnitude of the relationships between the variables. The first research objective examined the importance of strategic content to effective strategy implementation. The study established that strategic content was positively related to effective strategy implementation, with both the process of strategy development and the content of strategy being given top priority in the case study company. This was consistent with most of the published literature reviewed, which emphasize the role of strategic content as an essential component in effective strategy implementation. Corporate strategies are formulated and implemented within a specific strategic context. This study established a positive relationship between both external and internal strategic context factors and effective strategy implementation. However, the overall multivariate regression analysis model found the relationship between strategic context factors and effective strategy implementation to be insignificant, implying that these factors were the least important among the three factors examined in the study. The third objective of this study sought to examine the importance of organizational process factors to effective strategy implementation. This study operationalised organizational process factors in terms of operational planning, resource allocation, communication, people involvement and control and feedback. The findings revealed that these factors had a positive and significant relationship with effective strategy implementation. Although the study did not directly seek to rank the five sub-constructs in terms of relative importance, the findings suggested that communication was the strongest predictor of effective strategy implementation among the five sub-constructs. The study concluded that firms that aim to effectively implement strategy need to consider the process they adopt during strategy development. This should be comprehensively articulated, with a definite time frame and clearly outlined phases. The roles and responsibilities of all participants in the process must be clarified. In addition, it is fundamental that the content of strategy be consistent with the overall strategic direction of the organization. In order to make strategy work, it is important that both the development and execution be appropriate to the context of the firm carrying out the implementation exercise. Organizations must ensure that any changes initiated by the new strategy are appropriately reflected in areas such as budgeting and resource allocation. They must also ensure that the HR plans for staffing, training, empowerment and reward and recognition are consistent with the strategic goals of the organization. Managers must continually adjust their business strategies to reflect the trends and conditions prevalent in their operating environment. In addition, they are required to provide the necessary strategic leadership to ensure effective implementation of strategy