An Assesment of Strategic Leadership on Customer Growth in Savings and Cooperative Socities in Kenya Kiambu Country

Abstract

The dynamic nature of business operating environment has called on business leaders to be strategic in their leadership roles if they are to sustain their competitiveness into the unforeseen future. Strategic leadership is important in an organization because it is future oriented establishing ways in which the organizational operations can be aligned to future changes in the business environment to ensure that competitiveness is sustained. The SACCOs in Kenya have experienced problems in the past; some even shutting down therefore there was need for customer growth to be enhanced so as to increase their incomes so as to sustain the business. These SACCOs have to look for leaders and managers who can develop future targets, direct and lead other staffs towards meeting the firm’s objective and gaining a competitive edge. The purpose of this study, therefore, was an assessment of strategic leadership on customer growth in savings and cooperative societies in Kenya (Kiambu County). The study was guided by specific objectives: to determine the influence of strategic direction identification on customer growth; influence of leader’s competence on customer growth; the influence of ethical practices adherence on customer growth; and influence of managing human resource on customer growth. This study used descriptive research design and data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The study target population was 558 SACCOs in Kiambu County, and a sample of 56 SACCOs was selected from the population which is 10% of the population. The questionnaire which was given to 56 operations managers in the 56 selected SACCOs. The data collection procedure was done by the researcher and dropand- pick strategy was applied. The data was coded and keyed in Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 22.0), and was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Tables, figures and narratives we used to present the results. The study established that strategic direction, leader’s competence, ethical practices and managing human resource have combined significant influence on customer growth of SACCOs in Kiambu County. The study recommends the regulatory bodies like SASRA should ensure effective compliance of SACCOs on established rules and regulations and also establish better mechanisms in auditing SACCOs operations, which will enhance customer growth and improved performance in SACCOs.