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As it appeared in the Daily Nation on August 6th 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu Every business has some sort of strategy. In some businesses, the strategy is well recognised and understood by everyone in the business. In other businesses, the strategy is only in the mind of the business owner. Having a strategy means different things to business owners and to those in leadership. To some, having a strategy is about preparing well for the future by having in place some guiding policies that lead businesses in a certain direction. To others, a strategy is about having clear objectives for both the short and long term and being able to achieve those objectives. Yet, for others a strategy is simply the ability to survive in the marketplace. Do you have a strategy for your business? What is your business strategy? One of the strategy masterpieces “Strategy Safari” shares the five widely referenced Ps that help us…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on May 14th 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu Emails have become so embedded into both our personal and work lives. Billions of emails are sent and received every day. Most of these emails are sent from one person to another while others are automatically generated from systems that hold our email addresses. In business, it is obvious that emails have become a very common channel of communication. Emails are used for internal communication as well as for communication with the external world of customers, suppliers and partners. Most of us spend many hours a day managing important and not so important work-related emails. We receive, act and respond to emails from others as well as send emails. A 2012 study by McKinsey showed that the average worker spent 13 hours a week handling emails. In 2018, the fourth annual Consumer Email Survey showed that we are spending an average of…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 9th 2019 by Dr. Lucy Kiruthu Does your business receive customers’ complaints? As much as smart businesses work extremely hard to prevent customer dissatisfaction, complaints crop up. Most times, complaints result from the staff dropping the ball deliberately or accidentally. There are also customers who are simply not satisfied with our products or services because they expected more. In addition, a few customers present difficult situations in every business. Though we may want to stand by the saying “to err is human” the truth is that majority of complaints can be averted. Customers’ complaints are expensive; what is your business doing to reduce the number of complaints? Most complaints emanate from promises made but not kept. We promise to deliver, we do not; we promise to call back, we do not. Complaints also result when we do not keep our customers fully informed or when we give…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on April 2nd 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu Every organization has a culture. That culture is as a result of the traditions, beliefs and the collective behaviors of the founders, leaders and their team members. Culture defines our way of doing things. Individuals, groups and even entire organizations abide by certain norms and values. These are deeply ingrained in the DNA of the organization. Collectively the traditions, beliefs, norms and values bid the people together and shape how work is done in our organizations. Organizational culture becomes our 'way of life'. Every leader must therefore be concerned about their organizational culture. Is your organizational culture helping or hurting your business? What are you doing about it? The contribution of organizational culture to business success and failure is enormous. This is because of the ability of culture to shape behaviour and influence every other aspect of organizational performance. The leaders, staff,…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on March 19th 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu As a country, we have held numerous discussions around the alarming corruption in the public sector that has gone on for decades. Senior government officials have been named, others interrogated, and some put on trial. The main forms of corruption in the public sector has been the embezzlement of public funds and bribery. As this has been going on, it is interesting to note that there has been not much said about the role of the private sector in fighting corruption. Most of the corruption going on in the public sector has a major linkage to the private sector. After all, those in the private sector supply goods and services to the government. Many Kenyans are aware that there are corrupt practices in the private sector. Why are we quiet on the corruption that goes on in the private sector? Corruption comes…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on March 12th 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu Are you a consumer? Certainly yes! If you can read this, you are likely to be consuming some product or service. Unfortunately, most of us Kenyans are not aware of our rights as consumers. This is despite the enactment into law of the Consumer Protection Act, 2012 as well as the Competition Act several years ago. Our current Consumer Protection law considers consumer rights as basic human rights. This is outlined in Article 46 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. In our constitution, consumers have the right to; Goods and services of reasonable quality; Information necessary to enable us gain full benefit from goods and services; Protection of our health, safety and economic interests; and Compensation for loss or injury arising from defects in goods or services. More detailed consumer rights are described in the Consumer Protection Act, 2012. Are you aware…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on March 5th 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu The Insurance Regulatory Authority recently launched the 2018-2022 Strategic Plan. One of the outcomes of the plan is to increase the Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) index from 70% to 100%. Every insurance services customer has a story to tell. These stories may be of a fair or unfair treatment. The stories may be of an aggressive sales agent, a mishandled policy renewal, a delayed claim’s settlement or a financial loss prevented through insurance. These stories paint a picture of an insurance industry that has supported customers mitigate risk as well as an industry that has caused some painful moments. What is your story as an insurance services customer? Have insurance companies treated you fairly? Insurance products and services are diverse and unique. Most customers do not seem to fully understand insurance. As a result, there is lots of misinformation about insurance. Furthermore,…

As it appeared in the Daily Nation on February 26th 2019 Dr. Lucy Kiruthu Almost a decade ago, a hotel allowed us to check in at 8am. We had planned to drive to Mombasa early in the morning but the car developed a mechanical hitch the day before. We therefore opted for the night bus arriving in the wee hours of the morning. In addition to an early check in, the hotel team invited us to breakfast. This was a true expression of outstanding guest experience. Some other hotels might have simply referred to their policies “you can’t check in till 11am” “if you want to have breakfast today you will be charged”. Most guests often grudgingly accept such policy guidelines as the norm. I have never forgotten the experience we had that morning and throughout our stay at this north coast hotel. As a result, we kept going back to the hotel every year. We…

The benefits of Science and Technology Parks are alluded globally. It is through such parks that both businesses and universities associated with the parks will build their regional and global competitiveness.