Influence of Strategic Management Practice on Performance of Savings and Credit Co-Operative Societies in Public Road Transport, Kenya

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to establish the influence of strategic management practice on performance of Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies in the Public Road Transport in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were: to establish the influence of strategic leadership, strategic human resource development and information communication technology adoption on Sacco performance and also the moderating effect of environmental scanning on the relationship between strategic management practice and performance of Sacco’s in the public road transport in Kenya. Underperformance of Sacco’s in public road transport in Kenya is an issue of concern that has received mixed reactions from different stakeholders like public road transport commuters, industry investors and the Government. The study adopted descriptive research design. The target population was 475 Sacco’s in public road transport spread over 34 counties in Kenya as per National Transport and Safety Authority report of 2015. Using proportionate simple random sampling method 204 Sacco’s were chosen from the target population to be the representative sample of the study. Respondents were managers of Sacco’s in the public road transport. Structured questionnaires which comprised of closed ended questions were used to collect primary data due to their effectiveness of capturing respondent information in a structured manner. Data collected was analyzed using analytical tools which were: descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlation and regression methods. Before regression analysis, diagnostic tests such as Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, Bartlett’s and multicollinearity tests were conducted. The research results were tabulated for easier interpretation. After regression analysis, it was established that there was a positive statistical relationship between strategic leadership, strategic human resource development and information communication technology adoption on performance of Sacco’s in the public road transport in Kenya. Additionally, environmental scanning was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between strategic management practice and performance of Sacco’s in the public road transport. The study concluded that unless Sacco’s dedicate their effort in strategic leadership, strategic human resource development and adopt information communication technology, achieving competitiveness would be an uphill task. The study recommended that the Government of Kenya should establish a formal institute that offers professional courses tailored to transport sector workers including drivers and conductors. Further, the Government should intervene and reinforce labor laws among Sacco’s thus enhancing customer service delivery.