Effects of strategic change on performance of deposit taking savings and credit cooperative societies (saccos) in Nairobi County

Change is an alteration of a company’s strategy, organisation or culture as a result of changes \nin its environment. Static competitive environment has been replaced by an increasingly \ndynamic uncertain environment thus organizational flexibility is getting more and more \nattention, which is the most important factor to acquire the future competitive advantage. \nWhile much has been written in the recent years about the concept of change management \nand competitive advantage, few organizations today truly have an effective, repeatable, \nproject-level change management process and yet it is one of the most critical success factors \nfor the organization. The operating environment is characterized by constant changes that destabilize \nthe strategic balance between it and the organizations operating in that environment \ncausing dis- equilibrium. This necessitates strategic responses by firms in the form of change \nso as to maintain the equilibrium. It is commonly accepted that the business environment \nencompassing features of the legal, regulatory, financial, and institutional system of a \ncountry has an impact on the performance of firms. As barriers to doing business appear to \nvary widely across the different sectors, it has also been asserted that the business \nenvironment will affect aggregate performance. The need for companies to understand and \nadjust to the new conditions grows daily because changes in the environment can lead to \nfailure of both existing and new products and, ultimately lead to the loss of value or collapse \nof firms. The study’s objective was to identify the effect of Strategic change on performance \nof deposit taking Saccos in Nairobi County. Consequently, the researcher adopted descriptive \nsurvey method research design as this type of study research describes existing phenomena \nby asking individuals about their perception, attitudes, behaviour or values and enables \ncollection of data from a sizeable population in a highly economical way. The study used a \ncensus of the entire 45 deposit taking Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Nairobi County to \nidentify the respondents used in the research. It utilised primary data which was collected \nusing structured questionnaires administered the Chief Executive Officers of the 45 deposit \ntaking Saccos in Nairobi County. The data gathered was analysed using descriptive statistics. \nIt was then analyzed using Statistical Package for social scientists (SPSS) and the findings \npresented using tables. The results were then presented systematically in line with the \nliterature reviewed and where applicable appropriate tables were used. Findings of the study \nindicated that the main strategic change practices adopted by deposit taking Saccos in \nNairobi County were training of staff, training of board of directors and increase in number \nof branches which in turn led to an improvement in Return on assets, capital adequacy, asset \nquality and liquidity, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and improved productivity \nof the Saccos. Based on the study’s conclusions, the researcher consequently recommended \nthat proper communication needs be instituted in the various Saccos to ensure that all \nmembers of staff are pulling in the same direction and that they understand their roles and \nobligations. There is also need to train staff members to equip them with new skills and \ncompetencies to better take up challenges that come with the change management process.