By Staff Reporter
Senior government officials and industry leaders have called on chief executives to take personal responsibility for embedding strong management systems in their organisations, describing it as essential for business resilience and global competitiveness.
Speaking during the CEO’s Breakfast Meeting on February 17 at a Nairobi hotel under the theme “Driving Business Excellence Through Management Systems: The CEO Imperative,” Industrialization Secretary Erastus Gatebe said excellence at scale is driven by robust systems rather than individual effort.
“At scale, excellence is no longer driven by effort, but by systems that ensure consistency, accountability and resilience,” Gatebe said. “Systems determine how well strategy is executed, how risk is managed, and how growth is sustained beyond individuals.”
Gatebe noted that the government is stabilizing regulations, digitizing public services and enhancing policy predictability to give businesses confidence in long-term planning. He added that reforms are designed to support predictable investment frameworks and encourage foreign direct investment.
Through regional and continental platforms such as the East African Community and the African Continental Free Trade Area, Kenya is positioning itself as a regional and global operations hub. “When government creates an enabling environment, building an excellent system ultimately becomes a leadership decision. And that is where you, as CEOs, are key,” he said.
Kenya Bureau of Standards Managing Director Esther Ngari urged executives to see ISO certifications not as regulatory obligations but as strategic tools for resilience.
“You are not merely a gathering of executives. You are the vanguard, the pathfinders of Kenyan industry.” ~Esther Ngari, MD, KEBS
She highlighted that organisations that thrive in today’s unforgiving global environment are systematically resilient. ISO standards, she explained, form a unified architecture for quality, environmental responsibility, safety, digital security, knowledge management, and market access.
Ngari warned that no management system survives leadership indifference. “Clause 5 of every ISO standard begins with leadership and commitment. It says Top Management shall. It says you shall,” she said. CEOs who engage directly with quality, safety, and cybersecurity send a clear message that excellence is strategic, not bureaucratic.
She urged Kenyan firms to consistently demonstrate that products and services bearing the Made in Kenya mark meet global standards. “Every time your organisation delivers to the highest standard, you are not just building your brand. You are building Brand Kenya,” she said.
Ngari also called for closer collaboration between government and the private sector to institutionalise excellence, strengthen competitiveness, and secure Kenya’s seat at the global economic table.
“Let this morning be more than a breakfast,” Ngari said. “Let it be a recommitment to lead our management systems from the front, to make excellence not a department but a disposition.”
