Determinants of Strategic Change Implementation among Telecommunication Companies in Kenya

Abstract

The telecommunication companies over the globe are growing very fast and this has been attributed to the strategic change implementation for growth strategies. However, it is disappointing that there are inadequate frameworks within the sector for management of strategic change initiatives. Despite the industry experiencing a boom in the recent past, only a handful of scholarly studies have been conducted in Kenya to capture strategic change implementation for these growth moments and make sense of them. This study locked this gap by analyzing determinants of strategic change implementation in telecommunication companies in Kenya with the specific objectives being; to determine the; influence of government policy on implementation of strategic change in telecommunication companies in Kenya, influence of market positioning on implementation of strategic change in telecommunication companies in Kenya, influence of leadership style on implementation of strategic change in telecommunication companies in Kenya, and influence of organizational structure on implementation of strategic change in telecommunication companies in Kenya. the theories informing the study included; Resource-Based View (RBV), Lewin Three-Step Change theory and the Lippitt’s Phases of Change Theory. The study adopted The study targeted 562 executive and supervisory managers of the three main telecommunication players in the Country namely Safaricom, Airtel, and Telekom Kenya. A sample size 234 respondents where representation from each company were determined using stratified proportionate sampling and the respective respondents selected using random sampling. Data was gathered through administration of a questionnaire that had been pretested for validity and reliability. Data collected was analyzed using quantitative analysis, with aid of SPSS version 22, to obtain descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Correlation and regression analysis was used for drawing of inferences. The study found that at 5% level of significance, government policy (β=0.293; p=0.031 )has a statistically significant positive influence on implementation of strategic change in Telecommunication Companies in Kenya, market positioning (β=0.319;p=0.014) has a statistically significant positive influence on implementation of strategic change in Telecommunication Companies in Kenya, leadership style (β=0.272;p=0.043) has a statistically significant positive influence on implementation of strategic change in Telecommunication Companies in Kenya and organizational structure (β=0.410;p=0.002) has a statistically significant positive influence on implementation of strategic change in Telecommunication Companies in Kenya. It was recommended that telecommunication companies to consider; allowing government involvement in commercial activities enhancing market positioning practices and ensuring strategic structure alignment is enhanced to have an effective strategic change implementation.