Influence of Leadership Development on Organizational Performance of Five‑Star Hotels in Mombasa County
Abstract
Leadership development is a key investment in the strategic development of managerial skills, staff engagement, service quality and organization performance within the hospitality industry. The five star hotels in Mombasa County contribute to the jobs created, the competitiveness of the tourist destination and economic development in the county. But there is little empirical evidence of the linkages between leadership development and multidimensional organizational performance of these hotels. The study investigated the effect of leadership development on organizational performance of the five star hotels in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study was a descriptive cross sectional and explanatory research with census approach, based on the theory of Resource Based View with 60 respondents of the managers. Primary data was collected through structured questionnaires with 5-point Likert scale. The validity was evaluated by experts and pilot testing, and the internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach's alpha (leadership development = 0.906; organizational performance = 0.969). Descriptive Statistics, Pearson correlation and Multiple regression (SPSS version 26) were used to analyse the data. Balanced Scorecard approach was used to measure organizational performance. The study had a 72% response rate. The results showed that leadership development and organizational performance are significantly correlated, positive and strong (r = 0.805, p < 0.001). Using regression analysis, leadership development was found to have significant influence on organizational performance (β = 0.629, t = 5.627, p < 0.001) and accounted for 74.6% of the variance in organizational performance (R² = 0.746). The study shows that systematic, strategic and frequent leadership development programs increase managerial effectiveness and organizational performance. The study recommends the adoption of leadership development programmes, refresher courses and change management training in the five-star hotel industry in relation to the goals of the hotel in order to strengthen the performance, adaptability and competitiveness of the industry.
Keywords: Leadership Development, Organizational, Performance, Five‑Star Hotels, Mombasa County
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