Influence of strategic human resource management practices on performance of state-owned corporations in the ministry of industry, trade and cooperatives in Kenya

Abstract

The performance of some government corporations has been wanting. For instance, East African Portland Cement Company posted Ksh.3.4 billion loss in 2019. It was also reported Wilson Airport had potholes in some of the runways signifying poor performance by the Kenya Airports Authority. A study by Transparency International indicated there is a high level of service inconsistencies such as delayed service delivery and inability to innovate services among most of the state corporations. Further previous studies revealed public organizations and more specifically State-owned Corporations in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya are experiencing deteriorating performance characterized by inefficiencies and ineffectiveness in service delivery. This formed the basis to conduct the study about the influence of strategic human resource management practices on performance of state-owned corporations in the ministry of industry, trade and cooperatives in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the effect of strategic human resource planning, strategic staffing and retention, strategic training and development on performance of State-owned Corporations in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya and to determine the moderating effect of technology on the relationship between strategic human resource management and performance of State- owned Corporations in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya. The study was anchored on empowerment theory, Herzberg’s two factor theory and Human capital theory. Positivist research philosophy and cross-sectional research design were adopted for this study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 185 respondents who were selected from a target population of 344 employees from 13 State owned Corporations in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives by employing stratified sampling. The unit of analysis were State-owned Corporations while unit of observation were middle level managers and lower-level employees of State-owned Corporations in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives in Kenya. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression methods which were effected using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24. Mean scores, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, kurtosis and skewness were used for descriptive analysis of the study variables by their indicators. Inferential analysis was based on fitting ordinary least squares regression models which formed the basis of hypotheses testing used to draw conclusions on the study objectives. The inferential analysis results revealed that the performance of State-owned Corporations is significantly influenced by Strategic Human Resource (β = 0.376, t − statistic = 5.603, p − value = 0.000), by Strategic Staffing and Retention (β = 0.464, t − statistic = 7.918, p − value = 0.000) and by Strategic training and development (β = 0.205, t − statistic = 2.712, p − value = 0.008). The study also found that technology has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between the Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Practices and Performance of State-owned Corporations (R-square change = 0.090, F−change = 16.535, P-value = 0.000). The study therefore concluded that SHRM Practices influences performance of the state-owned Corporations and that technology significantly moderates the relationship between SHRM Practices and Performance. The study recommends the findings to be applied in State-owned Corporations during policy formulation and decision making.