Effect of Leadership Competencies on Performance of State Corporations in Kenya

Abstract

Leadership competencies effectiveness is a requirement for organizations not only to be successful with current undertakings, but also to be successful in the future. Outstanding organizational performance invariably maps to dynamic leadership competencies within an organization. The purpose of this study was to establish the effect of leadership competencies on performance of state corporations in Kenya. The study used cross-sectional survey research design. The study’s population was the state corporations in Kenya. The unit of observation was the 187 state corporations. The unit of analysis was a top manager who reports to the CEO in the state corporation. The study used both stratified sampling technique and simple probability sampling to come up with the sample. The sample size was 131 state corporations. The study used primary which was largely quantitative and descriptive in nature. Primary data was collected through questionnaire. A pilot study was conducted to measure the research instruments reliability and validity. Descriptive and inferential analysis was conducted to analyze the data.The data was presented using tables. Results revealed that all the leadership competencies had a positive a significant relationship with the financial performance of state corporations in Kenya. However, the magnitude of the influence was different for the specific leadership competencies. Social awareness leadership competency had the largest effect followed by self-awareness leadership competency then social skills leadership competency and finally the self-management leadership competency. Further, results revealed that self-awareness leadership competency and social skills leadership competency had a positive a significant relationship with the non-financial performance of state corporations in Kenya while self-management leadership competency and social awareness leadership competency had a positive but insignificant relationship. However, the magnitude of the influence social skills leadership competency was higher than that of self-awareness leadership competency. Further, the results showed that organization size only had a positive and significant moderating effect on the relationship between leadership competencies and non- financial performance of state corporations in Kenya.The study recommended that state corporations should adopt a culture of conducting trainings on leadership competencies. This could go a long way in ensuring better financial and non-financial performance of the state corporations.