Influence of Strategic Management Practices on Sustainable Growth of Private Hospitals in Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to establish the influence of strategic management practices on sustainable growth of private hospitals in Kenya.To achieve this aim, the study assessed Strategic Management Practices of level three to level six accredited hospitals in Kenya. The specific objectives were examine influence of Strategic Planning Practice, Strategic Procurement Practice,theStrategic Capability Management Practice and Strategic Human Resource Management Practice on Sustainable Gowth of Private hospitals in Kenya. The target population was all 647 Private Hospitals offering comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services in Kenya as listed by NHIF. The sample size was 251 hospitals derived using simplified Cochrans’s(1977) formula.Stratified random sampling technique was used to obtain samples from the Private Hospitals in Kenya based on bed capacity.The study used self administered questionnaires to collect data. The descriptive statistics, reliability and validity tests of the constructs, correlation, factor and regression analysis models were used to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study showed that strategic planning practice,strategic capability management and strategic human resource management had a statistically significant positive influence on sustainable growth of private Hospitals in kenya.However,Strategic Procurement Practice was not statistically significant in influencing sustainable growth of Private Hospitals even though their influence was positive. Future studies could also shift the emphasis to strategic management practices to derive more precise evidence regarding the influence of management practice on other areas related to hospital performance.Further research is,therefore, recommended on the influence of other unexplored strategic management practices that have not been addressed in this study. Such clarification would provide additional valuable guidance to strategic management practitioners and the hospital managers as well.