Effects of organisational culture on strategy implementation in water boards in Kenya

Abstract

Organizational culture is central to the life of any organization. It is embedded in its practices and governs the relationships of all organizational members. The main objective of the research study was to determine the effects of organizational culture on success of strategy implementation in Water Boards in Kenya.The study specifically aimed to; assess the effect of; teamwork, stability, risk taking and results oriented culture on strategy implementation in Water Boards in Kenya.This study was pegged on the following theories: Cameron and Quinn Theory, Bourgeois and Brodwin’s Five Models of Strategy Implementation and Open Systems Theory. The literature reviewed was from books, journals, past research thesis and government publications. The study adopted a descriptive research design and the target population was a total of 180 staff working in eight Water Boards in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation. These included; Tanathi Water Services Boards; Athi Water Services Board; Tana Water Services Board; Rift Valley Water Services Board; Northern Water Services Board; Lake Victoria North Water Services Board; Lake Victoria South Water Services Board and Coast Water Service Board. The study applied stratified sampling to group potential respondents into two strata and simple random sampling technique was used to select 32 top level manager and 58-line managers as the sample size for the study and therefore study sample was 90 respondents. The main data collection instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire containing both open ended and close ended questions with the quantitative section of the instrument utilizing both a nominal and a Likert-type scale format. The study adopted quantitative, qualitative and secondary data. A pilot study was carried out to test the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Descriptive statistics data analysis method was applied to analyze data and presented in frequencies, percentage mean, standard deviation, and chi-square results. Finally, multiple linear regression model was employed to establish the significance of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings are presented using tables and charts. The study findings showed that in overall the organization culture influences 73% of change in strategy implementation in the water boards in Kenya. This means that there is a significant relationship between the strategy implementation and the culture of Water Boards. Study recommends that; there is need for the Water Boards management to encourage employees work together and they need to involve employees in the decision making, organization need to create room for creativity and does not follow rules because although it gives results it also limits the employee’s decision-making capacity and there is need for employees to be encouraged to be creative and innovative in taking risks.