Strategic Leadership and Organizational Performance of Educational Publishers in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Performance is one of the challenges facing organizations in today’s dynamic business environment with strategic leadership being viewed as one of the best leadership styles fit for such organizations to survive. The broad objective of this study was to determine the influence of strategic leadership on the organizational performance of educational publishers operating in Nairobi County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the influence of strategic direction, discuss the influence of organizational culture, and assess the influence of resource portfolio on the performance of educational publishers operating in Nairobi County in Kenya. The study also sought to examine the combined influence of strategic leadership on the performance of educational publishers operating in Nairobi County in Kenya. The study was anchored on Strategic Leadership Theory, positivist philosophy, and correlational research design respectively. The target population for the study was 218 staff who included the top leaders, managers, and technical staff in the publishing and production departments of 32 educational publishers operating in Nairobi County that were registered members of the Kenya Publishers Association. Quantitative data was collected using a closed-ended questionnaire administered on 139 respondents in 9 companies which were selected using purposive sampling technique. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 29 for descriptive and inferential statistics and the results were presented in tables. The results of the study showed that, among the indicators of strategic leadership, strategic direction had the highest correlation with performance (r=0.734, r2=0.539) followed by organizational culture (r=0.726, r2=0.527) and then resource portfolio (r=0.718, r2=0.516). A combination of the three indicators of strategic leadership increased the correlation with performance (r=0.829, r2=0.687). The findings of this study support the need to put strategic leaders in charge of educational publishers and equip them with the necessary skills in providing strategic direction, nurturing organizational culture, and managing organizational resources.