Effect of Corporate Strategies on Organizational Performance among Water Service Providers in Kenya

Water is life. It is vital to enhance living and therefore essential to ensure sufficient provision in the right quantity and quality. Poor state of water and sanitation services has in the recent past attracted a lot of public interest. The current study was undertaken to establish the effects of corporate strategies on organizational performance. It was guided by the following research objectives, to determine the effect of growth strategy on organizational performance to identify the influence of financial performance on organizational performance and to determine the influence of internal resource allocation on organizational performance among Water Service Providers in Kenya with a focus on a sample drawn from Western region only. The study applied a census sampling technique. The respondents comprised of four senior managers representing the fourteen water service providers because of their key role in corporate strategy to reduce chances of data redundancy. The data was tabulated, and then analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 software. Descriptive statistics involved the use of weighted averages and percentages while inferential statistics involved the use of ANOVA and regression analysis. The data obtained was analyzed using correlation analysis. The constitution of Kenya 2010 recognizes water as the basic right for every person in Kenya, and hence the base for this study which looked at the water service providers in western Kenya. To gather information required, structured questionnaires were administered. Based on the study findings, it became apparent that organizational performance was predominantly dependent on collection efficiency, staff productivity, NRW reduction, operational efficiency and customers insights on the WSPs. Further, internal and risk management controls, written policies, and alignment of annual budgets to strategic plans and engagement of competent and qualified personnelgreatly impacted on organizational performance. Finally, where there is single team (team work) between the Board and staff and that once Corporate Management Team has capability to manage physical resources and implement a change process or new strategic direction there is increased organizational performance.