Influence of innovative leadership on organizational performance of vocational training institutions in kisumu county, Kenya

Abstract

Technical and vocational education and training portray poor performance across the country including Kisumu County. There are various strategies that can be adopted to improve this performance and one of these includes having innovative leadership in these institutions. Therefore, this study examined effect of innovative leadership on organizational performance of vocational training institutions in Kisumu County. It was guided by four specific objectives that were to: determine influence of leader creativity on performance of TVET centers; assess effect of leader networking on performance of TVET centers; examine influence of leader teamwork on performance of TVET centers; and evaluate effect of leader emotional intelligence on performance of TVET centers in Kisumu County. Its theoretical underpinning consisted of transformational leadership theory, boundary-spanning leadership theory, leader-member exchange theory, and emotional intelligence theory. A descriptive design was adopted under which 28 organizations represented the units of analysis while 252 management staff represented its units of observation. Out of the target population of 252, a sample size of 154 was calculated by sampling formula. A structured questionnaire was designed and its validity and reliability was confirmed after conducting a pilot study. The data was analysed using descriptive statistical procedures including frequency distributions, mean, and standard deviation. This was followed by performing diagnostic tests checking for normality, heteroscedasticity, and multicollinearity in the dataset before moving to inferential analysis. Correlation and multiple linear regression analysis was done to determine association and relationship between variables respectively. These tests were conducted at the 95% confidence level. There was a positive linear association between leader creativity, leader networking, and leader teamwork with performance of TVETs. The output indicated a positive and significant effect of leader creativity and leader networking on performance of TVETs while leader teamwork and emotional intelligence had not effect. The conclusion is that leader creativity and leader networking was critical in improving performance of TVETs. This research recommends for the government agencies in vocational training to assess creativity capabilities of those applying for leadership and management positions in TVETs. This study recommends for TVET leaders to actively pursue and engage in networking activities to sense strategies they can use to improve performance from the private sector and other vocational training institutions.