INFLUENCE OF GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CHURCHES IN KENYA

Abstract

The governance body of any organization determines the values and strategic choices and orientation of the organization. Governance therefore plays a critical role in the pursuit of organizational effectiveness and as such must be composed and function well in order to deliver on this core mandate.

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of governance structure on the overall organizational performance of the evangelical Churches in Nairobi. The objectives of the study were; to assess the influence of Church board selection and independence on church performance of the evangelical Churches, to investigate the influence of church value systems and leadership style on church performance, to determine the influence of Church goals and performance measures on performance of the Evangelical Churches; and, to establish how strategy implementation and control affects performance of the evangelical Churches.

The research design was a cross sectional study involving a universal population of Churches in Kenya. The target population was made up of 331 evangelical Churches in Kenya registered with their umbrella body, the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) as at 28th February 2015. The accessible populations was made up of the evangelical Churches based in Nairobi which were 62 in number and hence the study adopted a cross sectional survey design in which all the 62 Churches were studied. A structured closed questionnaire was administered for accuracy of analysis. Purposive sampling was applied when choosing the respondents who were the Church Administrators and Senior Clergy since they are the ones who had the information required in the study. The questionnaires was dropped and picked by the researcher while some were presented to and completed by the respondents after Church services on Sundays.

The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for accuracy and faster manipulation of the data collected. The data was presented in tables and charts using descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies, percentages and regression models. The main finding from this study was that governance structure (in terms of board selection and independence, value systems and leadership style, Church goals and performance measures and strategy implementation and control) had a positive influence on the level of organizational performance of the Churches considered in this study. When the data was subjected to analysis using the Regression Model, it was found that a unit increase in board selection and independence, value systems and leadership style, Church goals and performance measures and strategy implementation and control would result in an increase in the level of organizational performance by 2.016, 2.628, 1.927 and 1.826 times respectively from a level of 3.007 without the influence of the predictor variables. The study recommends that Church governance bodies and systems be strengthened to ensure Churches increase their effectiveness in fulfilling their mission and stay relevant in the fast changing environment within which they operate. Further Research has been recommended especially to establish the root causes of weak governance structures in Churches and find ways through which this can be mitigated.