Going Back to the Basics: A Practical Approach to Strategy Implementation in Corporate Environments

Abstract

Although several ambitious strategy plans are being developed in many organisations in Kenya, they consistently fail to achieve their desired goals because of weak strategy implementation. An ongoing disconnect between formulation and execution continues to be one of the biggest obstacles to organisational performance in the public and private sectors. The researcher discussed the factors that affect the successful implementation of strategies in Kenyan organisations. The researcher specifically examined the classical management functions, the 5Ws and 1H model, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems from the perspective of the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm, and the resources and capabilities of the firm. The researcher employed a qualitative research design with a secondary data approach. A systematic literature search was done on Google Scholar on the Kenyan studies published from 2000 to 2025. Thematic analysis was used to analyse 18 relevant sources. Three key themes were developed, which were closely interconnected: (a) Leadership and management functions (planning, organising, leading, controlling), (b) Resource allocation and internal capabilities (valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable; VRIN) as highlighted by RBV, and (c) Continuous M&E facilitated by the 5Ws and 1H framework for adaptive execution. These factors emerged in the reviewed literature as commonly associated with implementation success. Effective implementation of strategies requires not only individual application of these frameworks but also their use in an integrated way. The management functions should be strengthened in organisations, and the internal capacities of organisations should be systematically mobilised. The three factors identified in this review may collectively account for observed variance in implementation outcomes; empirical testing is required to establish effect sizes.