The Role of Strategic Management Practices on Growth of Private Universities in Kenya

Abstract

This study examined the role of some underlying practices of strategic management and provides results of an empirically tested framework identifying the relationship between the practices and growth of private universities in Kenya. Informed by primary data collected from some selected private universities in Kenya and secondary data obtained from institutional documents the results indicated that the underlying strategic management practices had a strong combined effect on growth of private universities. While the details of every institution may not have been exhaustively covered in the study, key trends were substantially evoked. The study recommends that the university management should ensure that strategic management practices are embraced in the institutions by implementing strategies and aligning structures and cultures aimed at exploiting the immense opportunities for growth of the institutions. Further, the management should endeavour to embrace distributed and shared leadership that empowers various organs to adequately and freely execute their responsibilities; embrace product and service innovation as well as collaborative links with the industry and other external stakeholders keen in driving Research, Development and innovative activities while ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements.