Abstract:
The continued performance of commercial banks has been a subject of concern in Kenya,
where despite this being a crucial sector in the country’s economy, its overall performance and
growth has only been limited to less than 20 percent of the banks. While empirical evidence
has portrayed the essence of corporate entrepreneurship in stimulating organizational
performance, this has less backing in Kenya’s context, particularly among the commercial
banks. It is on this background that the study sought to examine the influence of corporate
entrepreneurship on performance of commercial banks in Nairobi County, Kenya. Specifically,
the study sought to assess the effect of proactive dimension on performance of banks, to
determine the effect of risk-taking dimensions on performance of banks, to establish the effect
of innovation dimension on performance of banks, and establish the effect of corporate
venturing dimensions on performance of commercial banks in Nairobi County, Kenya. The
study was anchored on knowledge spillover theory, endogenous growth theory, Schumpeterian
theory of innovations, discovery theory on entrepreneurship and creativity theory of
entrepreneurship. The study adopted descriptive research design, and targeted 1,413 managers
of commercial banks in Nairobi County. Stratified random sampling method was used to
determine the sample size of all 444 commercial bank managers. The study collected data by
use of questionnaire as the main research instrument. The pilot study was conducted in
commercial banks in Kiambu County. Validity was measured by use of the university
supervisors. Reliability of research instruments was tested by Cronbach alpha coefficients of
0.7 if reliable and less than 0.7 not reliable. The collected data was analyzed by descriptive
statistics which included percentage, mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistics
including correlation analysis and multiple regression models were used to establish the
relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. From the analysis of the
findings, it was established that proactive dimension, innovation dimension, corporate
venturing, and risk taking dimension significantly influenced the performance of commercial
banks. The study concluded that while the key corporate entrepreneurship dimensions were
found to significantly influence performance of commercial banks, most of the surveyed banks
had not adequately implemented the dimensions, and this was strongly responsible for the
declining performance. The study therefore, recommended that for commercial banks to
optimize their performance, they ought to integrate key corporate entrepreneurship dimensions
including risk-taking, proactiveness, innovation, and corporate venturing to stimulate their
business resilience and continued expansion for sustainable performance
