Factors influencing strategic thinking Among Master of Business Administration graduates in Kenya: A survey of University Campuses in Nairobi Central Business District

Abstract

Master of Business Administration (MBA) has recently gained popularity as a degree program in Kenya, with most of its students and graduates gaining different strategic skills and knowledge as a result. The continued industrial growth and technological advancement has paused a challenge in the management of many organizations calling for need for strategic thinking approaches to address these issues. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing strategic thinking among MBA graduates from Kenyan Universities in Nairobi County. The specific objectives were; to find out the influence of personal attributes, education background, structural characteristics and industrial environment on strategic thinking among MBA graduates from Kenyan Universities. Descriptive survey was employed on a sample size of 54 respondents obtained using snowball sampling method was used. The findings revealed that both personal characteristics (? = -.176, p ? 0.05) and education background (beta = -.071, p ? 0.05) constructs did not significantly influence strategic thinking capabilities of the MBA graduates. However, structural characteristics (? = 0. 556, p < 0.05) and industrial environment (? = 0.365, p < 0.05) significantly influenced strategic thinking levels among the MBA graduates with structural characteristics having stronger influence. Additionally, it was established that the multiple linear regression model developed for the study could explain approximately 37.9 % of the variations on strategic thinking among MBA graduates from Kenyan universities campuses located in Nairobi County. The study, therefore, recommends that the management of the universities invest in more resources that can make their programs more oriented to strategic thinking. The study also recommends that the universities lecturers should find more ways of enriching the MBA programs by giving the students more assignments that would encourage strategic thinking. It is also recommended that graduates take up assignments in structure design and reorganization especially at small scale level so as to further develop their strategic thinking capabilities.

Key Words: Personal Attributes, Education Background, Structural Characteristics, Industrial Environment, Strategic Thinking, MBA Graduates