Challenges of Strategic Issue Management Practices by Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies in Mombasa County, Kenya

Ansoff and McDonnell (1990) define Strategic Issues as forthcoming developments, either inside or outside of the organization that are likely to have an important impact on the ability of the enterprise to meet its objectives. Despite of their fundamental socio-economic role in Kenya, most savings and credit cooperative societies (Saccos), also hereby referred to as cooperatives, are faced with a number of challenges, such as: traditional products, leadership and governance issues, capital base requirement, taxation, Information and Communications Technology, regulation and supervision, developing competitive business models, demand for loans, non-remittance of fees by members, forgery, HIV/AIDS and outreach issues. Thus the central challenge for Saccos is to find constructive ways to build and retain competitive advantages in the market place. In a bid to enhance cooperatives’ performance, this study was destined to identify some challenges facing strategic issue management practices by cooperatives in Mombasa County. The findings revealed that cooperatives experience a myriad of challenges hence need to practice Strategic Issue Management. Keywords: Strategic Issues, Strategic Issue Management (SIM), Saccos. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-28-01 Publication date:October 31st 202