Idealized Influence and Performance of County Governments in Kenya: A Case of Makueni County

Devolution of governance and resources has dominated development discourse across the globe with expectations of enhanced accountability, equitable resource sharing, efficient management of public resources, and balanced regional growth. Since the start of devolution in Kenya, suboptimal performance by the county governments has led to public discontent. This situation has been exacerbated by gaps in leadership and managerial inadequacies as evidenced by the inability to improve and develop the counties as expected. The literature is unclear about why some county governments outperform others in the implementation of projects and the absorption of county development budgets. This study was purposed to establish the influence of idealized influence on the performance of county governments in Kenya. The study was anchored in the Transformational Leadership Theory and guided by a pragmatic research philosophy, with an exploratory-sequential mixed-methods design. A census sampling approach was used to select ۱۱۷ management-level staff of the County. A structured research questionnaire and a key informant interview guide were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively, using a drop-and-pick method. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive analysis was done using measures such as mean, mode, standard deviation, and percentages. Inferential analysis was also conducted using multiple linear regression and Pearson's correlation. Diagnostic tests for linearity, multicollinearity, and normality were performed. Results show a very strong, positive correlation between Idealized Influence and county performance. The findings provide a basis for new knowledge, policy, sound decision-making, and action by county governments in Kenya.

کلیدواژه ها:

Leadership ، Idealized influence ، Transformational leadership ، County performance ، Kenya