Employees’ Role In Corporate Re branding: A Comparison Between Kenya Power And Commercial Bank Of Africa

Abstract

Corporate rebranding is gaining grounds in modern corporates. It is a new and seldom studied area in the academic field. Although the amount of interest in corporate rebranding has increased, it is more reported in business press rather than in the academic realms and journals. The few studies that have been done usually dealt on the motivation and cost of corporate rebranding. In this study, academic knowledge is enhanced with the help of a survey through comparison between two recently rebranded organizations in Kenya: Kenya Power and the Commercial Bank of Africa. The study aimed at highlighting the importance of employees’ involvement in the entire process of corporate rebranding, who traditionally were relegated as “others” and not among the main stakeholders. This study tends to contribute to fill this gap. The main objective of the study is to compare the role of Kenya power and commercial bank of Africa employees in corporate rebranding process. The study was premised on two theories: the buy in theory and the stakeholders’ theory of Modern Corporation. The two theories suggest that better employees’ involvement lead to better outcomes of corporate rebranding. Population included 1050 marketing employees in Kenya Power, based in Thika and Nairobi and 45 in CBA based in Nairobi. Hence the total population was 1095. A cluster sample size of the 350 from Nairobi and Thika Kenya Power branches and all the 45 in CBA’s head office. The study was a comparative descriptive survey where questionnaires were administered to 70 respondents and 40 from commercial bank of Africa. The data was analysed using SPSS and presented in tables of means and standard deviations. The study concludes that there is a positive significant relationship between employees’ involvement and the outcome of corporate rebranding. Further, it was found out that better employees’ involvement in CBA lead to better outcome as opposed to Kenya Power. Based on the favorable outcome of the process in CBA its recommended that organizations planning to rebrand should involve the employees more in planning organizing and controlling than in leading. Lastly, it’s recommended that communication should be given a lot of weight in terms of Timing, method and room for feedback.