STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF KENYA REVENUE AUTHORITY
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF KENYA REVENUE AUTHORITY
Seraphine Anamanjia - Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Rugami Maina - School of Business, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Organizational performance is a key dimension that managers direct their attention to achieve due to its effect on the firms short and long term sustainability. However, the performance of an organization is affected by the dynamic nature of the business environment that firm operates in. Consequently, it is important that an organization comes up with appropriate strategies that make the firm operations to be aligned with the prevailing market conditions. The objectives of the study were to assess the influence of strategic alignment on the performance of Kenya Revenue Authority with the response variables investigated being structural, cultural, resource and business environment alignment. The research sought to determine the effect of strategic alignment on the performance of Kenya Revenue Authority. The specific objectives of the study were to determine the effect of structural alignment, cultural alignment, resource alignment and business environment alignment on the performance of Kenya Revenue Authority. The study was anchored by institutional theory, resource – advantage theory and dynamic capability theory. This study employed a descriptive research design. The unit of analysis was the Kenya Revenue Authority while the population of the study were all the employees in Job groups 3 -10. The group of employees was drawn from all the cadres namely; policy makers, senior management and technical staff. In ensuring all the cases representativeness sample is achieved, respondents sampling according to their department was done using stratified sampling method. Respondent selection was done using simple random sampling. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. Qualitative data obtained from the open ended questions was analyzed thematically in line with study objectives and presented in narrative form. Inferential statistics made use of multiple regression analysis because there is more than one explanatory variable involved in this study. The study established that structural alignment, cultural alignment, resource alignment and business environment alignment had a positive and significant effect on the performance of Kenya Revenue Authority. The study concluded that structural alignment leads to decision making thus enhancing collection of feedback regarding operations in the organization thus enhancing handling of various activities. Cultural alignment has also enabled the entire KRA workforce to have shared values that help in the strategic decision making. Resource alignment as a dimension of strategic alignment is equally important in enhancing organizational performance and that business environment alignment, the organizations innovation process is developed in line with the prevailing business environment. The study recommended that KRA organization structure should be flexible enough to adjust to the market demands quickly. In addition, the KRA organization structure should be aligned to bridge communication gap between business units and IT department. The organization should show employees that they are critical of their involvement. Invite employees to share their thoughts during discussions about the culture of the organization as well as during daily operations. Human resource is a key resource in any organization. As such, the motivation of the employees in an organization is essential in improving productivity hence better organizational performance. Organization should identify the persons to be involved in the environmental scanning. Create a competent team of employees and assign them relevant responsibilities.
