Background to the Study

The essential elements of a strategy implementation are why strategic plans should not lay on shelves without ultimate implementation. They insist that a strategic plan should give a roadmap for a firm or an organization to systematically enact actions aimed at improving the work environment. This can be achieved through implementation that ensures profitability at the work place. A strategic plan should be able to provide a conclusive approach to enhancing results as by the set goals. However, the document in its self is not adequate to ensure results. There has to be a deliberate effort by the human resource of an organization to ensure that what is written translates into their daily actions, activities and operations thus profitability. It’s not agreeable to assume that strategy is implementation knowing very well that the two are complimentary processes that ought to be implemented both in isolation as well as in conjunction to ensure maximum returns. Business that wishes to enjoy a competitive edge over their competitors must ensure that they implement strategies they have developed [1].

Organizational Culture refers to a system of assumptions, values, norms and attitudes manifested through symbols, which the members of the organization have developed and adopted through mutual experience and which help them to determine the meaning of the world surrounding them and how to behave in it. It represents a complex pattern of believes, expectations, ideas, values, attitudes and behaviors shared by the members of an organization that evolve overtime. Organizational culture consists of collective cognitive structures such as assumptions, values, norms and attitudes, but also of symbols which materialize and manifest its cognitive content. It creates social order continuity and a collective identity that generates commitment to rules about how things are done. Culture is very important in describing how a business or any organization behaves. Nelson and Quick asserts that culture in an organization is important in: giving a sense of identity, improving staff commitment, protecting firms values as well as defining organizational behavior. Rajasekar [2] researched on implementing strategies in service delivery in power firms in Oman. The descriptive study used a questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS in form of descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. The findings showed that this variable may not be reviewed in isolation without considering the norms, values and experience of the people and organization in general. The study insists that strategy implementation is affected by culture of the human resources in play. The findings further show that openness, satisfaction of customer and their perceptions are great determinants of the culture of an organization. However, the study also insists that the culture of any organization must be compatible with the strategies in place to ensure results at the work place.

Statement of the Problem

Effective engagement of dynamic interventions empowers a firm above its prevailing market competition thus any firm that wishes to have a competitive edge must endeavor to implement robust strategies. Most successful VTCs have been known to have implemented structured frameworks of ensuring results across the world. However, according to the ministry of education (2018) in Kenya VTCs have a myriad of challenges due to lack of implementation of developed strategies. Most VTCs go through a comprehensive planning process with the aim of enhancing its working environment only to stagnate at the implementation phase due to identified challenges like inadequate finances and limited human resources. This has incapacitated most of them despite their significant role in empowering the community by creating a sustainable skill base for the growing economy. This study aimed to examine the gap established by examining organizational culture on the implementation of strategy on organizational performance of VTC’s in Bungoma County.

Literature Review

Organizational Culture and Strategy Implementation: Culture can be defined in terms of beliefs, norms, values and assumptions. Culture is very important in describing how a business or any organization behaves. Nelson and Quick [1] asserts that culture in an organization is important in: giving a sense of identity, improving staff commitment, protecting firms values as well as defining organizational behavior. Rajasekar [2] researched on implementing strategies in service delivery in power firms in Oman. The descriptive research used questionnaires. Data was analyzed using SPSS in form of descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. The findings showed that this variable may not be reviewed in isolation without considering the norms, values and experience of the people and organization in general. The study insists that strategy implementation is affected by culture of the human resources in play. The findings further show that openness, satisfaction of customer and their perceptions are great determinants of the culture of an organization. However, the study also insists that the culture of any organization must be compatible with the strategies in place to ensure results at the work place. 

Rana, Ayesha and Shabbir conducted a study on organizational culture and service delivery in Ghana. Descriptive design was applied and data was collected using questionnaires. Results revealed that people have diverse origins and cultures and this will always inform the way they relate with others. The findings further showed a positive correlation between development in an organization and commonness of culture. Organizations were advised to build strong culture that can be a tool for indulging new staff and ensuring competitive advantage. The study concluded that organizational culture significantly influences organizational processes, and ultimate performance. 

Maina [3] conducted a research work on culture of an organization and its influence on performance of banks in Tanzania. It used correlation research design. Data was collected using Questionnaires. Findings showed that organizational culture greatly influences how a firm staff relates with another. Employees are led by shared values and believe consistency, adaptability as well as effective communication. When these virtues are affected, they ensure results and good performance in an organization. Results also showed that staff of commercial banks in Tanzania valued individual habits and characters which are in line with the organizational vision, mission and goals. It concluded that organizational culture significantly influences implementation of strategies in among banks in Tanzania. This means that it affects strategy implementation in commercial banks in Tanzania. However, it only reviewed organizational culture. This study shall review organizational culture, resource allocation, leadership as variables of the study.

Kamaamia [4] reviewed organizational culture as a measure of implementation of strategies in KSMS. The study employed explanatory research design with questionnaire and interview. Using SPSS, the analysis findings had a significant correlation between culture and performance. However, the survey was not conducted in education sector thus a gap for the current study which shall endeavor to evaluate strategy implementation in vocational training centers.

Research Design

The researcher used descriptive research design. This is due to its capacity to enable the study to describe object of research and their relationship to the environment.

Study Area

The research was done in Bungoma County. Bungoma town is the headquarters of the county. Bungoma County has 47 wards and every ward has not less than 2 VTCs.

Study target Population

The study population was 193 people comprising of 36 principals and 157 departmental heads.

Data Collection Instrument

Primary data was gathered using structured questionnaires to ensure that respondents do not answer beyond the scope of the study.

Data Analysis and Presentation

Analysis of data was done by SPSS version 24 after careful sorting, collating and coding to ensure errors free data. Frequency, percentage, medians, standard deviation and variance analysis of data relating to the study variables was done. Inferential statistics was informed of correlation and regression analysis coefficients. Findings were presented in APA tables.

Descriptive Statistics of Organizational Culture

The study assessed descriptive statistics of the culture of organization among vocational training centers in Bungoma County. The respondents were asked to rate the organizational culture of their respective VTCs and the results were as depicted in Table 1.

The results of the above table shows that most of the respondents, 56 and 74% somehow agree that there are values and norms treasured among staff, and every new staff learns the culture upon recruitment into the VTC. The findings also shows that majority of the respondents, 65, 66 and 59% disagreed that there are shared symbols, colors and emblems, that staff are allowed to work and behave in the way they wish as long as they ensure targets are met, and that individual goals are aligned to the VTCs goal respectively. Similarly, majority of the respondents, 61% and 65% disagreed that Visions and missions have been influencing the way of working in their organizations, and that employees are reminded about the standards they need to maintain while doing their work respectively. 

On average, the overall level of satisfaction in the organizational culture among the selected vocational training centers in Bungoma County was 55.34% (Mean = 2.767, Std. dev = 0.739) rated moderate. These indicate that organizational cultures of majority of the vocational training centers in Bungoma County are not satisfactory thus need for improvement.

These findings are confirmed by previous studies by Maina [3] who conducted a research work on culture of an
organization and its influence on strategy implementation of banks in Tanzania. It used correlation research design and questionnaires. The study findings showed that the culture of the organization greatly influences how a firm staff relates with one another. Employees are led by shared values and believe consistency, adaptability as well as effective communication. When these virtues are affected, they ensure results a good strategy implementation in an organization. Results also showed that staff in Tanzania valued individual habits and characters which are in line with the organizational vision, mission and goals. It concluded that organizational culture significantly influences implementation o strategies in among banks in Tanzania. This means that it affects strategy implementation in commercial banks in Tanzania. 

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Organizational Culture among the selected vocational training centers in Bungoma County

5: Strongly Agree (SA), 4: Agree (A), 3: Somehow Agree (SHA), 2: Disagree (D), 1: Strongly Disagree (SD), Source: Field Data (2020)

Test of Hypothesis (H₀₁)

The objective of the study was to examine the effect of organizational culture on the strategy implementation among the vocational training centres in Bungoma County. To achieve this hypothesis, the study tested the following null hypothesis (H₀₁):

• H₀₁: Organizational culture does not have significant effect on implementation of strategy in vocational training centers in Bungoma County, Kenya.

The linear regression findings on testing the null hypothesis (H₀₁) are as portrayed in Table 2.

The ANOVA test findings as shown in the above table shows that F-Statistic is significant, F (1, 119) = 193.278, p-value = 0.000 <0.05; these indicated that the linear regression model was a good fit in linearly predicting strategic implementation of a vocational training center in Bungoma county when given the its organizational culture. The adjusted r-square was 0.616 (see model summary results of table 4.18); this indicates that the model (organizational culture) was able to explain 61.6% of the variation in the implementation of strategy among vocational training centers in Bungoma County. The unstandardized beta coefficient for the organizational culture is found to be significant; b= 0.696, t = 13.902, p-value=0.000 <0.05. The study therefore rejected the null hypothesis and concluded that organizational culture had a statistically positive significant influence on the implementation of strategy among vocational training centers in Bungoma County. The constant in the linear regression model was found to be statistically significant; b=1.007, t = 7.027, p=0.000 <0.05 (Table 2); an indication that besides the organizational culture, there are other factors not covered in the model that significantly affect implementation of strategy among vocational training centers in Bungoma County. To predict the level of implementation of strategy among vocational training centers in Bungoma County when the level of effectiveness of organizational culture, the following model would be used:

Strategy Implementation = 1.007 + 0.696 Organizational Culture

The findings above are in line with a study by Maina [3] who conducted a research work on culture of an organization and its influence on performance of banks in Tanzania. The study findings showed that organizational culture greatly influences how a firm staff relates with another. Employees are led by shared values and believe consistency, adaptability as well as effective communication. When these virtues are affected, they ensure results and good performance in an organization. Results also showed that staff of commercial banks in Tanzania valued individual habits and characters which are in line with the organizational vision, mission and goals. It concluded that organizational culture has a notable influence on strategy implementation among banks in Tanzania [5].

Table 2: Linear Regression of Organizational culture on the implementation of strategy in vocational training centers in Bungoma County, Kenya

Source: Research Data (2020)

It was concluded that culture of the organization positively and significantly influences implementation of strategies in VTCs in Bungoma County.

The study recommends that all vocational training centers should strive to nurture their firms culture to ensure identification and rivalry edge

1. Njagi, L., and H. Kombo. “Effect of Strategy Implementation on Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya.” European Journal of Business and Management, vol. 6, no. 13, 2014, pp. 62–67.

2. Rajasekar, J. “Factors Affecting Effective Strategy Implementation in a Service Industry: A Study of Electricity Distribution Companies in the Sultanate of Oman.” International Journal of Business and Social Science, vol. 5, no. 9, 2014.

3. Maina. “Influence of Organizational Culture in Commercial Banks in Kenya.” 2016.
   (Likely thesis or report — institution missing.)

4. Kamaamia, A. T. The Effect of Organizational Culture on Organizational Performance: A Case of Kenya School of Monetary Studies. Doctoral dissertation, United States International University-Africa, 2017.

5. Kariuki. “Influence of Strategy Implementation in Constituency Development Fund Projects in Kenya: A Case of Gachoka Constituency.” 2013. (Likely thesis — institution not provided.)