Abstract:
The Kenyan constitution, which established county administrations, was ratified in 2013
There have been several barriers related to the efficiency of county administration resulting
from the leadership styles that have been used by county governments. The purpose of this
study was to investigate the moderating effect of innovation on the relationship between
transformational leadership characteristics and county government performance in the
counties comprising the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB). Specific objectives
were; establishing effect of individualised consideration on county performance,
establishing the influence of intellectual stimulation on county performance, establishing the
influence of inspirational motivation on county performance, establishing the effect of
idealised influence on county performance and establishing the moderating influence of
innovation on the relationship between transformational leadership dimensions and county
performance. Theories; transformational leadership, stakeholder, strategic leadership as well
as resource-based approach provided the theoretical framework for this study. The
philosophy of pragmatism served as the guiding principle for this research. The thesis was
anchored on descriptive methodology whose sample size of was 289 respondents sampled
from a total population of 408. Random stratified sampling strategy was employed.
Questionnaires were used for gathering information from the area of study. Piloting was
carried in the county government of Kisii and its findings were confirmed by a reliability test
whose the Cronbach's alpha coefficient met the threshold. Confirmatory factor analysis and
advice from research supervisors were means of ensuring reliability and validity of research
instrument respectively. Descriptive statistical analysis was measured by mean, standard
deviation, skewness, kurtosis, percentage, and frequency distribution. The strength of
connection between the variables was calculated using the Pearson-moment correlation
coefficient. Regression analysis (simple, multiple and hierarchical) was conducted to
establish the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Analysed
results were presented in tables, figures, charts and graphs. Individualised dimension,
inspirational motivation, and idealised influence were found to have positive moderate effect
on county performance, but intellectual stimulation had a negative and significant effect. The
results showed that the leader's ability to show individualized care, inspire employees, and
exert idealised influence had a significant influence on the organisation's output. The results
of the study showed that the study factors had statistically significant influence on county
performance. Policymakers in county governments are urged to give priority to give priority
to individualised consideration, inspirational motivation and idealised influence dimensions
because of their demonstrated significance to county performance in the South Eastern Kenya
Economic Bloc.
