The effects of human resource management strategies on the effectiveness of coffee marketing organizations in Meru

Abstract

Strategic human resource management is a coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued asset; the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement. This study was an investigation into the influence of human resource management strategies on the effectiveness of coffee marketing organizations in Meru. The specific focus of the study was on the influence of organizational development, culture management strategies, knowledge management strategies, change management strategies, development of climate of high commitment and trust strategies on the performance of the coffee marketing organization in Kenya. This study was of importance to the management of the MCFCU in enlightening them on the human resource strategies and their effects on organizational effectiveness. It was also of great importance to future researchers who may want to understand the strategies in the MCFCU and the future issues concerning human resource management. The ministry of co-operative and marketing may also benefit from this study as it would provide some vital information for policy making on the issues affecting the achievement of expected organizational performance through the employees. Looking at the scope of the study, it focused on the strategic issues in the human resource management of MCFCU. The study therefore included all the employees of the MCFCU. This coffee union is situated in Imenti North district with its headquarters in Meru town along the Meru-Nanyuki road. The study was a case study with a target population of 58 employees of Meru Central Coffee Union. The Union is situated in Meru town where it serves its affiliate societies totaling to 34 in number. A census was conducted as the whole target population was issued with the questionnaire for data gathering. The whole population was accessible and limited to 58. The target population was categorized based on the levels that the employees served in the organization structure. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and presented in figures and tables. Use of spreadsheet was necessary for the drawing of the figures and the tabulation of the data. The findings were that Human resource strategies affected the performance of the employees directly translating to the performance of the organization as a whole. Organizational development issues like culture management and change affected the general performance of the organization. Knowledge management through sharing vital information and training affected the level of skills and hence the performance of the organization as a whole. It was also found that the values of the organization, which form the platform of what is expected of the employees affected the culture and ultimately the performance expectation of the employees. This directly affected their performance as an integral part of the organizational performance. The recommendations were that MCFCU management should improve on the implementation of the strategic plan as there were some employees who were not aware of the issues in the strategic plan. All the respondents said that the implementation of the strategic plan was not conducted well. The management of MCFCU should also ensure that recognition of the employees is given first priority so that their morale may be higher for better results. The management of MCFCU and the Ministry of co-operative and marketing should ensure that among the policies for human resource management all employees including the support staff were trained. Further research was recommended particularly on how building value in the employees would better performance because MCFCU seemed to neglect the training of the support staff. Research could also be conducted using a different methodology to check on whether the findings in this case study hold over time and across different environmental settings. Finally since organizations are a complex of different activities, human resource strategies have effects on product and marketing strategies among others, it was recommended that further studies should be conducted to find out the effects of human resource strategies on other strategies of the organization.