Management Support and Strategies Integration in County Governments in Kenya: A Case of County Government of Kirinyaga

Abstract

County Governments are mandated to design development plans which are incorporated in the five-year strategic plans called County Integrated Development Plans. However, many of these programmes are never integrated into the county structures. Even the strategies that are implemented are only implemented through the goodwill of the existing leadership. They are rarely integrated into the County Government structure and systems. The main objective of the study was to establish the influence of management support on strategy integration in County Governments in Kenya. The study’s specific objectives were: To establish the influence of strategic leadership, resource allocation, capacity building and employee involvement on strategies integration in county governments in the County government of Kirinyaga. The study is anchored on three main theories which include McKinsey 7S Theory, Upper Echelon Theory and resource-based view theory. A descriptive study design was applied in the study. The target population in this research project was 277 employees in County Government of Kirinyaga. A sample of 164 respondents was selected but only 100 questionnaires were returned. Primary data was collected by use of questionnaires while secondary data was gathered through a review of the county government documents, published journals and articles. The Drop and pick method were used to administer the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, regression and correlation analysis was conducted to draw conclusions on the findings. The results revealed a strong positive relationship between management support and Strategy Integration in the County as indicated by the coefficient (r = 0.872). The coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.76) revealed that 76% of the changes in strategy integration can be explained by the changes in management support while 24% of the changes in management support can be explained by other factors beyond this study. Based on the Study findings, it was concluded that the level of strategy integration in the county government is highly dependent on the level of management support. Based on the research findings, the study recommended that County leadership should be focused on implementing the strategic goals as outlined in the County Integrated Development Plans without other political disruptions. To meet the goals enlisted in the County development plan, it is recommended that the county governments in Kenya should invest on capacity building to enhance the efficiency of their human resources, endeavor to adopt efficient strategic leadership and increase employee involvement in the planning and execution of the county development plan.