HOW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE INFLUENCE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE DELIVERY OF DEVOLVED GOVERNMENTS IN AFRICA: THE KENYAN CASE
Abstract
The objective of the study was to determine whether organizational structure influence the relationship between strategic leadership and service delivery among devolved government units. of County Governments in Kenya. The study was grounded on the institutional theory and positivism research philosophy. The study used a cross sectional survey whose target population for the study was drawn from the 47 Counties in Kenya. The study has sample size of 282 chief officers and administrators in the devolved governments. The study used primary data which collected using questionnaires. The hypothesis tested through hierarchical regression analysis. The findings imply that organizational structure positively affects the association between strategic leadership and service delivery (β= .078, t=2.072, P<0.05). The devolved government leadership should strategically audit their organization structures to enhance areas which are facilitating service delivery and relook the structural issues which are hindering service delivery.
Key words: Strategic leadership, Organizational structure, Ethical practices and Service delivery
CITATION: Gaitho, P. R., Bolo, Z. A., Ogutu, M., & Kitiabi, R. (2019). How organizational structure influence the relationship between strategic leadership and service delivery of devolved governments in Africa: The Kenyan case. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 6 (2), 286 – 295.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Alessandro, M., Lafuente, M., & Santiso, C. (2014). Governing to Deliver: Reinventing the Center of Government in Latin America and the Caribbean. Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank.
Alexander, P. (2010). Rebellion of the poor: South Africa's service delivery protests–a preliminary analysis. Review of African Political Economy, 37(123), 25-40.
Allio, R.J. (2015). Good strategy- good leaders. Strategy & Leadership, 43 (5), 3–9
Bass, B. M. (2007). Executive and strategic leadership. International Journal of Business, 12(1), 33.
Bold, T., Svensson, J., Gauthier, B., Mæstad, O., & Wane, W. (2011). Service delivery indicators: Pilot in education and health care in Africa. CMI Report, 2011(8). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/dyGg6X.
Brysland, A., & Curry, A. (2001). Service improvements in public services using SERVQUAL. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 11(6), 389-401.
Cheeseman, N., Lynch, G., & Willis, J. (2016). Decentralization in Kenya: the governance of governors. Modern African Studies, 54(01), 1-35.
Crowther, D., & Jatana, R. (2005). Agency theory: a cause of failure in corporate governance. In D. Crowther & R. Jatana (eds.). International dimensions of corporate social responsibility (pp. 135-152). Hyderabad: ICFAI University Press.
D'Arcy, M., & Cornell, A. (2016). Devolution and Corruption in Kenya: Everyone’s Turn to Eat? African Affairs, 115 (459), 246-273
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Agency theory: An assessment and review. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 57-74.
Eriksson, P., & Kovalainen, A. (2008). Qualitative research in business studies. London: Sage
Gaitho, P. R. (2018). Implication Of Administrative Structures And Appointment Practices On Service Delivery In County Governments Of Kenya. Researchjournali's Journal Of Management, 6 (3), 1-7. Retrieved from http://www.researchjournali.com/view.php?id=4223
Gaitho, P. R. (2019). Effect of Ethical Practices and Organizational Structure on The Relationship Between Strategic Leadership and Service Delivery of County Governments in Kenya. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Gay, L. R., Mills G. E., & Airasian, P. (2006). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Hambrick, D. C. (2007). Upper echelons theory: An update. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 334-343.
Haque, M. S. (2007). Revisiting the new public management. Public Administration Review, 67(1), 179-182.
Harris, D., & Wild, L. (2013). Finding solutions: making sense of the politics of service delivery. London: ODI.
Hussein F. H., & Wanyoike D. (2015). Challenges in service delivery within the procurement function of county governments in Kenya, a case of Nakuru Sub-County, Kenya. International Journal of Research in Business Management, 3(11), 1-14
Ihuah, P. W., & Eaton, D. (2013). The pragmatic research approach: A framework for sustainable management of public housing estates in Nigeria. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 10(10), 933-944.
Islam, F. (2015). New Public Management (NPM): A dominating paradigm in public sectors. African Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 9(4).
Kobia, M., & Bagaka, O. (2013). Separation of powers in Kenya’s devolved administrative system: Opportunities and challenges. Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2013/14
Leruth, L., & Paul, E. (2006). A principal-agent theory approach to public expenditure management systems in developing countries. IMF Working Paper. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=934463
Markiewicz, P. (2011). Change management in the strategy implementation process. Intellectual Economics, 5(10), 257–267.
Masungo, M. T. W., & Marangu, W. N. (2015). Effect of Strategic Leadership on the Performance of Devolved Government System in Kakamega County, Kenya. European Journal of Business and Management, 7 (13), 327-338.
McManus, J. (2011). Revisiting ethics in strategic management. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 11(2), 214-223.
Metz, T. (2015) African ethics and journalism ethics: news and opinion in light of ubuntu. Journal of Media Ethics, 30 (2), 74-90.
Milner, E., & Joyce, P. (2012). Lessons in Leadership: Meeting the Challenges of Public Service Management. New York: Routledge.
Mugenda, O.M. & Mugenda. A.G. (2007). Research methods, qualitative and quantitative approaches. Nairobi: African Centre for Technology Studies.
Nachmias, C., & Nachmias, D. (2000). Research methods in the social sciences, 6th Edition. New York: Worth Publishers and St. Martin’s Press
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Omari, A. O., Kaburi, S. N., & Sewe, T. (2013). Change Dilemma: A Case of Structural Adjustment through Devolution in Kenya. In Scientific Conference Proceedings (pp. 491-499).
Phipps, K. A., & Burbach, M. E. (2010). Strategic leadership in the nonprofit sector: opportunities for research. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 11(2), 137.
Racher, F. E., & Robinson, S. (2003). Are phenomenology and postpositivism strange bedfellows?. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 25(5), 464-481.
Resick, C.J., Hanges, P.J., Dickson, M.W. & Mitchelson, J.K. (2006). A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Endorsement of Ethical Leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 63 (4), 345–359
Rosenbaum, A. (2003). New challenges for senior leadership enhancement for improved public management. Leadership and Social Transformation in the Public Sector: Moving from Challenges to Solutions, 103-13.
Sarker, A. E. (2006). New Public Management in Developing Countries: An Analysis of Success and Failure with particular reference to Singapur and Bangladesh in International Journal of Public Sector Management, 19(2).
Schoemaker, P. J. H. & Krupp, S. (2015) New Public Management (NPM). Overcoming barriers to integrating strategy and leadership. Strategy & Leadership, 43(2), 23 – 32
Schutte, N., Barkhuizen, N., & Swanepoel, S. (2014). A strategic leadership competency model for the South African public service. 6th International Conference on Humanities, Geography and Economics (ICHGE'2014) Nov. 27-28 Cape Town (South Africa).
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2009). Research methods for business: A skill building approach. 5th edition. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Urbinati, N., & Warren, M. E. (2008). The concept of representation in contemporary democratic theory. Annual Review of Political Science, 11, 387-412.
Van Slyke, D. M. (2007). Agents or stewards: using theory to understand the government-nonprofit social service contracting relationship. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17(2), 157-187.
Weir, A. A., Chappell, J., & Kacelnik, A. (2002). Shaping of hooks in New Caledonian crows. Science, 297(5583), 981-981.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v6i2.1111
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
PAST ISSUES:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.