The Influence of Managerial Skills on Implementation of Strategic Plans at NHIF, Kenya

One of Kenya's long-term strategic goals is to enhance Kenyans' overall well-being and indicators by moving the focus from curative to preventative treatment and improving health-care services. Over time, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has developed strategic plans to guarantee increased service efficiency. However, it remains unclear whether NHIF has been effectively implementing these plans owing to its reported unsatisfactory performance. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the influence of managerial skills on implementation strategic plans at NHIF, Kenya. The specific objective was to evaluate the influence of managerial skills on implementation of strategic plans at NHIF, Kenya. The study was underpinned by the following theories: path-goal theory and dynamic capability theory. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population was 178 employees which comprised senior management, middle-level management, and technical staff from NHIF. The sample size was 124 respondents which was determined using the Yamane formula. Stratified sampling technique was used for selecting participants in the study. The research instrument was a structured questionnaire which was administered using drop and pick method. Data analyses involved both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study discovered that the execution of strategic plans in NHIF was positively and significantly impacted by managerial skills. Hence, the study concluded that implementation of strategic plans at NHIF, Kenya was influenced by managerial skills at various degrees across the different management levels. The study recommends that NHIF should continuously invest in managerial skills enhancement in order to ensure successful implementation of strategic plans. The findings of the study are expected to; serve as a theoretical foundation for scholars, researchers and academicians undertaking studies in the area, formulation of relevant policies to enhance strategy implementation in public organizations and assist management at NHIF to focus on the key success factors for implementation of strategic plans. Keywords: Managerial Skills, strategic plans, contingency management theory, county government DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/16-7-06 Publication date : September 30th 2024