EFFECT OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP ON PERFORMANCE OF HOUSING CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN NAIROBI CITY COUNTY, KENYA
Esther Nyaboke Onchieku - Masters of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Kenyatta University, Kenya
Dr. Mary Ragui - Department of Business Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Strategic leadership is an important driving force in housing because it acts as a positive contributor to their success. The field of leadership studies tends to concentrate on the traits of specific leaders rather than the collective leadership of the entire organisation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of strategic leadership on the performance of housing co-operative societies in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study objectives was to establish the effect of communication of strategic direction on performance of housing co-operatives; to assess the effect of developing human capital in performance of housing co-operatives; to determine the extent to which sustaining corporate culture contributes to performance of housing co-operatives; and to examine how organizational flexibility affects performance of housing co-operatives in in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was anchored by four key theories: Resource Base View Theory, Charismatic Leadership Theory, Trait Leadership Theory, and Complexity Theory. Descriptive research design was used to analyse the effect of strategic leadership on the performance of the housing cooperatives because it helped to describe the characteristics associated with the population without manipulating the subjects. The study used primary data obtained from the respondents using self-administered questionnaires with well-formulated and easily understandable questions and phrases. With a target population of 407 housing co-operatives, the researcher used a sample population of 40 housing co-operative societies to carry out the study. The presentation was done in figures, graphs, charts and tables. The study used multiple regressions analysis to analyse the effect of strategic leadership on performance of housing co-operative societies in Nairobi City County. The F-Test on ANOVA was interpreted using a significance level of 0.05; therefore, the P-Value was greater than 0.05 i.e. P < (α = 5% level of significance). The first research objective revealed that good communication of strategic direction positively affects performance (regression coefficient = +0.346). The second research objective established that developing human capital positively affects performance (regression coefficient = +0.471). The third research objective established that sustaining corporate culture positively affects performance (regression coefficient = +0.261). The fourth research objective pointed out that organisational flexibility positively affects performance (regression coefficient = +0.151). The study recommends leaders to take part in strategic leadership training and courses with the aim of acquiring the necessary skills of creating better policies to enhance competitiveness of the sector. The study recommends change management as a key factor in the improvement of performance of housing co-operatives through organisational flexibility. Therefore, management boards of housing cooperatives should involve a number of stakeholders to help in the development of strategic plans and policies for managing their operations that will result in better performance.
