An Evaluation of Influence of Leadership on Management of Strategic Organizational Change A Case Study of Nakuru County Government, Kenya

Abstract

Leadership has the ability to bring a vision into reality by making swift decisions and inspiring others. Leadership is guiding people and the company in the right direction through empowerment and inspiration, objectively enabling people to achieve organizational goals, whereas management is a set of processes that help the company to be reliable and efficient. This study sought to investigate the influence of leadership on strategic change in Nakuru county government. Specifically the study sought to determine establish the influence of leaderships’ communication and leaderships’ strategic direction on strategic change in Nakuru county government. The study was anchored on systems theory and strategic leadership theory. A descriptive research design was used for this study. The study targeted employees from several cadres in the county totalling to 1266. To come up with a sample of 304 respondents the study made use of proportionate stratified random sampling technique. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire as the main data collection instrument. The study generated both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data was coded and entered into Statistical Packages for Social Scientists (SPSS) and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative data was analyzed based on the content of the responses. Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation and multiple regressions was used to establish the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variables. The study concluded that communication and strategic directionhad positive and statistically significant influence on the strategic change individually. The study recommended that the leadership had an influence on the strategic organizational change of the county government at Nakuru with communication, strategic direction, organizational culture and dynamics management had positive and significant influence on the strategic change individually. The study thus recommended that the county government of Nakuru should put emphasis on the leadership aspects at the country to influence the strategic change.