Effect of Organizational Culture on Management of Change in the Health Sector in Kenya; A Case of Kakamega Provincial General Hospital

Abstract

The current trend of globalization and rapid working environment change has become a challenge for organizational management of change. The overall corporate strategy is today often strongly related to the organizations culture strategy. Hence, for the long-term survival there are no other options than continuous service development and sound investments in new changes. Hence, strategic planning is essential in developing and maintaining a viable fit between the organizations culture, objectives, resources and its environmental surroundings. The purpose of the study therefore was to investigate the relationships between organizational culture and change management at Kakamega provincial hospital. The specific objectives of the study was to establish the elements associated with organizational culture in Kakameg a Provincial General Hospital, to establish the relationship between institutional leadership and management of change in KPGH, to find out the role of training and development in managing change at the KPGH using organizational culture and to examine the role of technology in management of change, to find out the challenges facing Kakamega provincial General hospital using organizational culture to manage change. The data for this study was collected from primary and secondary sources. The study adopted Hofstede's (1983)organizational culture theory framework to understand the relationship between organizational culture and change management. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The research instruments were questionnaire and documentary analysis.The research was validated through piloting of questionnaires and Coefficient Alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the research instruments. The study population comprises of senior, middle management staff, general employees, and subordinates staffs. The sample of one hundred and eighty eight respondents was selected for the study using stratified and simple random sampling technique. The datafrom the research instruments were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis which includes frequencies and percentages, calculation of means and standard deviations. Correlation analysis was used to establish the relationships between organizational culture and change management in Health sector in Kenya. Results identified element associated with organizational culture in KPGH. The study further established that there is a positive correlation (r= 0.783, p < 0.05) significant relationship between institutional leadership and management of change in KPGH. The study revealed a significant positive correlation (r=0.3.9, P<0.05) between the level of training and development and managing change at the KPGH. The correlation test (r=0.352, p<0.05) of analysis further indicates a positive significant relationship between management of change and use of technology. The study identified a variety of challenges that technical institutions facing KPGH in using organizational culture to managing change. Key among them includes inadequate funding, resistance to change, inadequate knowledge and skill, frequent change in top management staffs, lack of appropriate leadership. This study is significant since it is hoped that findings and recommendation of the study will benefit Kenya government, MOH, Employees of Health institutions, scholars of various fields will use the findings to carry out further research to compliment and supplement the current study. -,