Determinants of effective performance of chief executives in public organizations in Kenya : a case of selected state corporations
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Date
2011-12-22
Authors
Kamaliki, Tom Ukiru
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Abstract
The study will be based on the Determinants of success and performance of Chief Executives in public organizations. Focus was on eight (8) selected State Corporations out of sixteen which have already signed performance contracts. It had been noticed with great concern that the performance of State Corporations has deteriorated in the recent past. Most of them have failed to meet their stated objectives both financial and administrative. Many State Corporations have been under liquidation while others have collapsed due to mismanagement. It hence became imperative to establish the causes of the decline. This hence made the buck to rest on the doors of the chief executives responsible for the daily operations of the State Corporations. The researcher strove to establish the Determinants of effective performance of Chief Executives in Government State Corporations with specific focus on eight parastatals which had signed performance contracts. The broad objective of the study is to establish the factors that affect the success and performance of Chief Executives in public organizations with specific focus on eight (8) State Corporations which have already signed Performance Contracts.
Specifically, the study aimed to achieve the following objectives:
• To determine the qualities and experience of a CEO that affects the performance of a State Corporation.
• To establish the relationship between the selection criteria and the performance of the Government's CEO's in the State Corporations.
• To find out if performance evaluation criteria of CEO's in State Corporations and corporate goals affect their performance.
• To find out if autonomy of CEO's has a bearing on their performance.
• To establish if incentives and benchmarking are important in determining the performance of CEO in State Corporations.
The researcher I conducted a study in eight State Corporations with a target population of 4000 employees. Random sampling method was used because the respondents are from different organizations. A sample of 94 respondents shall be selected.
The instruments of data collection included questionnaires and interview guides. The researcher introduced himself to the organizations of study and introduced the subject as a requirement to meet in order to obtain the MBA degree in Kenyatta University. He then randomly selected the respondents for either interview or issue questionnaires. The questions were be both close ended and open ended. The closed ended questions were of yes and No answers that required respondents to tick where applicable. The open-ended questions required the respondents to delve deeper into the subject of study. The researcher also considered secondary information from existing written literature on the subject of study. The information gathered was presented using simple statistical methods of data collection such as bar charts, pie charts, tables histograms. The results of the research are expected to be used by the government to come up with proper evaluation criteria of its chief executives which shall be vital in drawing performance contracts for effective operation of government State Corporations. The concept of performance contracting was first introduced in Kenya in 1989. A Parastatal Reform Strategy Paper which was approved by the cabinet in 1991, was the first official recognition of the concept of performance contracting as it was part of the following policies that were recommended to streamline and improve the performance of state corporations;-
• Divesture or liquidation of non-strategic parastatals.
• Contracting out commercial activities to the private sector
• Permitting private sector competition for existing state monopolies
• Improvements in the enabling environment of all strategic parastatals including removal of potentially conflicting objectives. Performance contracts where applicable will be used to make transparent the cost of social services, and to compensate parastatals for their net costs. The main objective of performance contracting is to ensure that social service or non commercial objectives are costed and compensated for. The research identified eight state corporations that signed performance contracts on 1St October 2004.( See appendix 1. The researcher managed to interview 84 respondents, out of the 94 targeted ones. The general feeling was that the performance of CEO's was poor.lt also emerged that, besides the variables of study, there were other determinants of CEO's effective performance such as motivated staff, conducive working environment, good policies. This hence calls for further research in the area of determinants of effective performance of CEO's.
Description
The HD 58.9.K3
Keywords
Organizational effectiveness--Kenya