Strategic Change Management Practices and Performance of Geothermal Development Company, Kenya

Kenya is capable of producing significant volumes of electricity from geothermal which ranges between 7,000 MW - 10,000 MW, yet the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) has only realized about 863 MW with a history of poor achievement. The study examined the effect of Strategic Change Management (SCM) practices, on organizational performance, in the geothermal energy sector. The research study adopted a descriptive design and collected quantitative data using structured questionnaires. The sample consisted of 96 middle to senior management staff from 6 directorates of the GDC. The research utilized Kotter’s Eight-Step Change Model, Stakeholder Theory, Resource-Based View and the Balanced Scorecard Framework in analysing the data in response to the research objectives. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that Communication (r=0.633, p<0.05), Employee Participation (r=0.688, p<0.05), Leadership (r=0.406, p<0.05) and Organizational Learning (r=0.900, p< 0.05) all had a significant effect on performance. Organizational Learning had the highest significant predictive effect on performance and explained approximately 69.4% of the variance of organizational performance. This indicates that if organizations would provide support for communication, participation and learning as an aspect of their organizational strategies and further strengthen their leadership practices, performance in the geothermal energy sector will be significantly enhanced. The study recommends policy and organizational interventions, specifically for organizational learning and employee participation, to be mainstreamed in Kenya's renewable energy sector.