CORPORATE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND PERFORMANCE OF STIMA SACCO SOCIETY LIMITED IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA
Kimotho Kevin Kaguru - Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Evans Mwasiaji (PhD) - Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
In the present world, the SACCO sector has become very dynamic and uncertain. Their management has to continuously strategize on how to cope with the ever-changing market forces such as customer needs, increased competition and accelerating pace of technology in order to retain and attract more members. For optimal performance, they have to constantly evaluate market dynamics and implement appropriate corporate management strategies that ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty. The essence of any organization is to gain competitive market advantage by satisfying its clients, hence a unique position in the market. Due to influx growth in numbers, Deposit Taking SACCOs (DTS) in Kenya must ensure clear corporate management strategies are in place to protect customers, promote locative and technical efficiency, and continually develop tailored products that meet their customers’ needs. The SACCO sector in Kenya contributes greatly to the financial industry and consequently the economy in general, estimated at about forty-nine percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product. The purpose of the current research was to establish the effects of corporate management strategies on performance of Stima SACCO society in Nairobi city county, Kenya. Specifically, the study sought to establish the influence of cost of operations, quality of products, management dependability and management flexibility on performance of Stima SACCO Society Ltd. The study was guided by ‘Sand cone’ model, Social Ecological Model and Rational Expectation Theory. The researcher used primary and secondary methods in the data collection process. The researcher utilised self-administered, semi-structured questionnaires. To enhance the internal consistency and validity of the research data, a pilot study was conducted at Stima SACCO’s Nakuru branch, in Nakuru County. The study adopted a census approach from a target population of 235 employees working at Stima SACCO headquarters in four different departments namely: credit, finance, human resource and operations departments. Quantitative data collected was analysed by use of descriptive statistics using SPSS (Version 23) and presented using frequency distribution tables, standard deviation, bar charts and pie charts. The researcher further employed multiple regression analysis to estimate the model of the study. The study established that cost of operations, quality of products, management dependability and management flexibility as corporate management strategies had a positive and significant effect on performance of Stima SACCO Society Limited. The study concluded that Stima SACCO had significantly worked on reducing the cost of operations, improving the quality of its products and reduced human resource training and turnover. The study further concluded that Stima SACCO has to a great extent embraced efficiency through the use of technology and has made its products unique through product improvement and brand loyalty to meet customer needs. It was concluded that customer service and interest rates were consistent and had a standard procedure. Stima SACCO significantly embraced continuous improvement and policy modification to adjust to the ever changing customer needs and market dynamics. The study recommends that Stima SACCO should invest more on modern technology and capacity building among staff to ensure rapid uptake of the new skills and knowledge. The researcher further recommended that Stima SACCO should embrace diverse strategies to stay competitive in the SACCO industry.
