Role of Intellectual Stimulation and Inspirational Motivation on Performance of Commercial State Owned Enterprises in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya state owned enterprises were design to spur growth and provide services in order to uplift the living standards of the Kenyans. However, over the years these state enterprises have face numerous challenges among them poor leadership. This paper sought to investigate the effect of transformational leadership on organizational performance of commercial state owned enterprises in Kenya, specifically the extent to which idealized influence and inspirational motivation affect organizational performance of commercial SOEs in Kenya. Data was collected from 170 senior managers from 34 commercial state corporations in Kenya using self-administered questionnaire.  Inspirational motivation was found to have a significant and a positive effect on organization performance implying that improving inspirational motivation will improve organization performance. However, idealized influence did not have any significant effect on organization performance. The study also found that inspirational motivation had a negative effect on organization performance through organization culture. This paper recommends that organizations targeting to improve organization performance must work on employee- friendly company culture, degree of employee’s inclination to be more productive than non-motivated employees, power of company financial incentives and team work. In addition, they must work towards discouraging delegation of tasks, career mentoring and couching, and creation of new learning opportunities alongside a supportive climate.

Keywords: organizational motivation, inspirational motivation, State Owned Enterprises