The effect of corporate culture on strategic implementation among government institutions: a case of Retirement Benefits Authority, Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Corporate Culture is a crucial factor in analyzing different contexts that face an organization and is a key determinant of success and effectiveness of an organization. However, there is no generally accepted definition of Corporate Culture. Organization culture in an organization includes vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits. It can also be considered as a set of shared values and norms that influences employees’ way of thinking, feeling, and behaving in the workplace. Currently there is a growing pressure on public institutions to enhance their efficiency and adopt management practices of the private sector such as Strategic Planning and customer service orientation as they deliver services to the public. One such public institution in Kenya, is the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) whose mandate is to regulate, supervise and promote the development of the retirement benefits sector. There are several theories of Corporate Culture and for purposes of this study, three theories were preferred: Hofstede, Cameron and Quin and Denison models. Hofstede model is preferred in this study due to its strong theoretical grounding and its focus on employees. The main objective of the study was to determine the effect of Corporate Culture on strategy implementation among government institutions, specifically, the case of Retirement Benefits Authority. The Specific objectives include to analyze the relationship between leadership and Strategic implementation in the Retirement Benefits Authority and establish the effect of teamwork on Strategic implementation in the Retirement Benefits Authority. The study used a mixed research design which utilized both quantitative and qualitative data techniques. The Main data collection instrument used was a questionnaire and was administered online using google forms owing to the challenges of Covid-19. The main significance of the study was to provide empirical evidence on strategic management practices such as Strategic implementation and its relationship with Corporate Culture especially in the context of public institutions. Using the Hofstede’s model of Corporate Culture, the findings showed that Corporate Culture was not well entrenched in Retirement Benefits Authority. On average, the perception on three dimensions of the hofstede’s model; individualism and collectivism, power distance and Masculinity and femininity, was neutral with an average score of 29.68%, 29.53% and 28.30%, respectively, while on the dimension uncertainty avoidance, the results showed that Retirement Benefits Authority encourages its staff to take risks, innovate and come up with new ideas. The results also showed there was effective leadership in the implementation plan. However, the perception on Strategic implementation was low and majority indicating there were neutral with an average score of 33.83%., implying that Strategic implementation at Retirement Benefits Authority may not be well understood by most of the staff. Teamwork and cohesiveness in strategy implementation also scored low. The regression results also showed that organizational culture, leadership and teamwork have a positive effect on strategic implementation. Based on the findings, the study recommends for a culture and structural transformation in Retirement Benefits Authority. These findings would be of interest to Retirement Benefits Authority Board, Management, staff and relevant stakeholders.