Implementation of Strategies and Performance in Public Research Institutions in Kenya: Case of Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi County

Abstract

This research project is on the implementation of strategies and performance of public research institutions in Kenya in the case of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) in Kilifi County. Implementation of strategy in most of the donor funded institutions is primarily driven by the availability of financial resources yet this is just one of the factors that affect implementation of strategies and performance of these organisations. The question that the study sought to answer was to show how these factors influenced strategy implementation and performance in these organisations. The study aimed to achieve four specific objectives: To establish the extent to which policy affected the implementation of strategy and performance; To find out the effect of resource management on implementation of the strategy and performance of the organisational; To determine how skills and competencies affected implementation strategy and performance; and to examine the role of culture on implementing strategy and performance. Emphasis was put on how much these factors affected the implementation of strategy and the resulting performance. Performance in the context of this study comprises of the internal and external working environment of KWTRP. This research conceptualizes and develops the dimensions of implantation of strategies which include policy, resource management competencies and organisational culture to test the relationship of the indicators to implementation of strategy and performance. The study adopted a descriptive research design to characterise the study variables. Out of the study population of 800, 120 respondents were selected through a stratified sampling technique. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire which had closed, semi closed and open-ended questions. The study also used secondary data from the organisation’s annual reports, existing communication tools, research journals and donor reports. The data was analysed and presented in tables, and graphs, using descriptive statistics analysis conducted to establish the relationship between the dependent variables and the independent variables. The results show that there is correlation between the implementation of the strategy and performance and that the four identified independent variables have a significant role to play in the performance of public research institutions with Policy and resources showing a greater influence. The study recommends the review of the strategies to focus on Policy and resources management to improve the implementation process and performance. Based on the findings, the researcher also notes the significance role played by the staff individually and at corporate level. This study helps the management of public institutions identify and invest in the right factors of strategy implementation. This includes a corporate culture to support implementation which then positively affect the strategy implementation and performance It also helps support the approaches to identifying focus areas in the implementation process of strategy to improve performance. Given specific issues to deal with, the management will be able to implement reviews to their strategy to address the factors affecting performance. The study will help similar organisations identify areas in which they can improve their strategy implementation and performance.