Leadership styles, financial resources and the performance of the North Eastern County Governments in Kenya

Abstract

he performance of devolved units can vary widely depending on a range of factors, such as the level of autonomy granted, the quality of governance, the economic and social conditions of the region, and the capacity of institutions to manage resources and deliver services effectively. Performance of the county governments has been a big dream, still not sufficiently realized. The general objective of the study was to determine the moderating effect of financial resources on leadership style and the performance of the north eastern county governments of Kenya. The specific objectives were to assess the effect of transformational leadership style, to determine the effect of transactional leadership style, to establish the effect of autocratic leadership style, to determine the effect of democratic leadership style and to assess the moderating effect of financial resources on the leadership styles and the performance of the north eastern county governments of Kenya. This study used transactional leadership theory, transformational leadership theory, contingency theory and the public value theory. The public value theory was the Anchor Theory. Explanatory research design was used and the target population was 266 staff of the northern County governments of Kenya. Cluster sampling method and purposive sampling methods were used while the Newman sampling formula was used to derive a sample size of 154 staff. The study used primary data which was collected using a structured questionnaire with questions designed using a 5 point Likert scale ranging (1 to 5). A pilot study was done in Isiolo County covering 16 staff. Validity and reliability was tested and the data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The moderated multiple regression method was employed and descriptive and inferential statistics were derived. Data was presented in tables. The correlation results showed that transformational leadership style (r=0.197, p<.024), transactional leadership style (r=0.221, p<.011), autocratic leadership style (r=0.229, p<.008), democratic leadership style (r=0.310, p<.000), and financial resources (r=0.223, p<.010) were positively and significantly correlated with county government performance. The regression results showed that transactional leadership style (β =.273, P=0.008), transformation leadership style (β =.194, p=.012), democratic leadership style (β =.244, P=0.019) positively and significantly affect county government performance while autocratic leadership style (β =.155, p=.145) positively but insignificantly affect county government performance. Financial resources had a significant moderating effect between transformational leadership style (β =.211, p=.019) transaction leadership style (β =.190, p=.044) and performance while on the other side financial resources positively and insignificantly moderated the relationship between autocratic leadership style (β=.091, p=.432), democratic leadership style (β =.130, p=.328) and county governance performance. The study concluded transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, autocratic leadership style, democratic leadership style and financial resources positively affect the performance of county governments. Further, financial resources moderate the relationship between leadership style and county government performance. The study recommended that county leaders should employ transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, less of autocratic leadership style, democratic leadership style and proper financial resources management so as to improve the performance of county governments.