Influence Of Management Functions On The Performance Of Agricultural State-Owned Corporations In Kenya

Abstract

The origin of agricutlural State Owned Corporations (SOCs) in Kenya can be traced back to the colonial period. Management functions have impacted on the performance of SOCs. This study explored influence of management functions (planning, organizing, controlling, leading and directing) on the organizational performance with a focus on SOCs in the agricultural sector. To achieve this, the study set: to explore the effects of planning as a management function on organizational performance; to scrutinize the effects of organizing as a management function on organizational performance; to evaluate the effects of leading as a management function on organizational performance; to assess the effects of controlling as a management function on organizational performance and to develop a road map for state owned organizations performance in Kenya. A descriptive research design was used. The target population consisted of 150 state-owned corporations. A random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 30 corporations out of the 150 State-owned Corporations in Kenya. Data was collected through administration of a questionnaire which was administered through the ‘drop and pick later method’. The questionnaire was divided into six sections to cover the objectives of the study thoroughly and consisted of structured questions. Secondary data from journals and information from the state-owned corporations’ websites was also collected. Data was coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation which was achieved by use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Microsoft Excel 2007. Findings were presented in graphs charts, pie charts and tables. Findings indicated that all the management functions examined in the study (planning, organizing, leading and controlling) have a bearing on organizational performance of state corporations. It was inferred that, taking into account the Balanced Score Card Model, each function influences different dimensions of the organization performance perspectives (financial perspective, customers’ perspective, and learning and growth perspective, internal processes perspective) differently. That is, some exert a strong influence on a particular perspective and a weak influence on a different perspective. The study further established that organizing had the greatest impact, followed by leading, controlling and lastly planning had the least impact. A sectoral analysis showed that organizing had the greatest impact. Overall, the study concludes that controlling exerts the most positive influence on performance of state corporations, though the influence is minimal. It is inferred that management in these corporations do not perform the key management functions especially planning and leading with the requisite professionalism and due diligence. Their actions in executing the planning and leading function adversely affect the performance of the corporations, while their actions in organizing and controlling function only improves performance to a small margin. The study recommends among other measures the government to ensure that management appraisals are done regularly in every state corporation with a focus on evaluating the management’s performance in the key functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling.