IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN THE WATER AND SANITATION COMPANIES IN KENYA

Strategic management includes understanding the strategic position of an organization, making strategic choices for the future and managing strategy in action. It is a concept that is concerned with making decisions and taking corrective actions to achieve long term targets and goals of an organization. The importance of strategic management in a firm can be answered by analyzing the relationship between strategic management and organizational performance. Strategic management practices can improve efficiency in various organizations. The overall objective of this survey was to study the implementation of strategic management practices in the water and sanitation companies in Kenya, with a view of providing appropriate recommendations and solutions to address the challenges such organizations face. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 28 water and sanitation companies that had service provision agreements with Tana Water Services Board (TWSB) to collect data. The response rate of the survey was 82% or that 23 companies replied. The findings of the research showed that all the firms practicing strategic management have a clear objective, a winning strategy to achieve the objective and a sound mission statement to guide the organization towards success. It also proved that the effect of strategic management is positive, allowing organizations to increase profits while accommodating customer needs. However, in order to improve the performance, the implementation of strategic management shall be conducted properly. Keywords : Strategic Management, Water and Sanitation Companies, Tana Water Services Board, Organizational Performance, Implementation and organization structure.