Effect of turnaround strategies on performance of public corporations in Kenya

Abstract

Many public corporations experiencing decline in performance have opted to implement turnaround strategies to improve their performance. This study extends previous research findings by seeking to examine the effect of turnaround strategies on performance of Public Corporations in Kenya, by identifying the turnaround strategies adopted in these Corporations, and to determine the effect of turnaround strategies on their performance. To achieve this objective, correlational research was adopted. The target population comprised 162 public corporations in Kenya. A purposive sample of thirty two (32) corporations was used in the study. A Likert type scale questionnaire was administered to respondents to collect data from the selected public corporations. Primary data was complemented with secondary data collected from the corporations for the previous three years. Data collected was edited and processed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics that is in percentages were used to describe the research variables. Pearson’s product moment coefficient was used to examine the relationship between turnaround strategies and organisational performance and multiple regression was used to establish the effect of turnaround strategies on performance of the corporations. The results showed a significant positive relationship between turnaround strategies and performance, P-value<0.05. The positive relationship suggests that when declining corporations implement turnaround strategies (revenue generating and cost reduction strategies) their performance when measured using the balance scorecard measurement tool which measures financial perspective, customer satisfaction, internal business processes and innovation and learning perspectives, will improve positively. The findings also found that cost reduction strategies had a greater effect on the performance of public corporations in Kenya compared to revenue generating strategies. Therefore, it can be recommended that public corporations need to implement turnaround strategies to turn around declining corporations. The study also recommends areas of further research.