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 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 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. Descriptive survey design was adopted. The target population was 277 employees. The sample size was 164 respondents. Primary data was collected using questionnaires while secondary data was gathered through a review of documents, published journals and articles. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression analysis. There was a strong positive relationship between management support and strategies integration in the county government as indicated by the coefficient (r = 0.872). The coefficient of determination (r2 = 0.76) revealed that 76% of the variation in strategy integration could be explained by management support. 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, we recommend that county leadership should be focused on implementing the strategic goals as outlined in the county integrated development plans without 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.