MBA Theses and Dissertations (2024)

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Browsing MBA Theses and Dissertations (2024) by Author "Chege, E."

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    Managing through a crisis: strategies used by Kenyan executives to lead their organisations through the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Strathmore University, 2024) Chege, E.
    The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for businesses and organisations around the world. In Kenya, executives were faced with the task of leading their organisations through a crisis of unknown duration and impact. This study aimed to investigate how Kenyan executives managed the Covid-19 pandemic starting with the precrisis period, the crisis period and the post crisis period. The study was anchored on the Stakeholder theory of crisis management which proposes that in the context of crises, managers behaving more in accordance with the stakeholder model will exhibit greater frequencies of proactive and accommodative crises management behaviour, even if these crisis management behaviours are not perceived to increase shareholder value. This study is undergirded on the interpretivist paradigm which posits that meaning is created from the personal interpretation of events and experiences of the participants. The research design that was used in this study was qualitative research design. This research design was deemed to be the most suitable for this study as it allows “patterns and meanings to emerge from the study that have not been strictly specified in advance” (Yardley, 2008, p. 246). The target population for this study was executives who work in the 13 industry sectors. The study applied purposive sampling where the participants were chosen because of their experiences. Primary data was collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews with the participants. This research used thematic analysis approach to the data, which entailed the researcher systematically assigning codes to qualitative data in order to uncover and explore emerging themes for subsequent analysis. During the data presentation phase, the study employed "thick descriptions'' to offer a comprehensive and intricate exposition of the findings. The findings of this identified ten strategies that were employed by the Kenyan executives. They include; 1) Business Continuity Plans 2) Crisis Management Teams 3) Prioritising Employee Safety 4) Risk Assessment and Business Continuity 5) Stakeholder Engagement 6) Crisis Communication 7) Enhancement of Business Continuity Plans 8) Heightened Vigilance 9) Flexibility and Adaptability and 10) Stakeholder Engagement. The researcher ensured that the participants’ data was treated with privacy and confidentiality. The analysis conclusions were that Kenyan executives employed several strategies in the pre-covid, covid and post-covid stages. The Kenyan executives, although they did not anticipate the Covid-19 pandemic and its accompanying magnitude, did have several pre-crisis preparedness plans and also shaped and implemented crisis management strategies during the pandemic and in retrospect, have instituted various post-crisis measures that have potential to stand them in good stead in the face of future crises. This study recommends executives to prioritise stakeholder engagement in the designing and implementation of crisis response strategies to ensure the concerns of every stakeholder group are catered for in the organisations’ response strategies. This study also recommends executives to have more robust business continuity plans that prioritise the health, wellness and safety of their employees.