An Assessment on the Role of Top Management Support Practice on Performance of Steel Manufacturing Companies in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to assess the role of top management support practice in selected steel manufacturing firms in Kenya and its effect on financial performance of the organizations. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design that collected both qualitative and quantitative data through structured questionnaires. The target population was the 46 listed Kenyan Steel Manufacturing Companies. Sample size was determined by the use of Krejcie and Morgan’s Sample Size Table. The sample size of the targeted population was 42. Data was collected from Management Representatives or Quality Assurance Managers or their equivalents and had a response rate of 100%. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze quantitative data while qualitative data was used to supplement interpretation of quantitative data. Testing of hypotheses was done using Analysis of Variance. Variance Inflation Factor was used to illustrate the significance of the association between financial performance and top management support practice. The study concludes that top management support practice contributes significantly to the performance of Steel Manufacturing companies in Kenya. Using regression analysis, the study revealed that top management support practice statistically significantly predicted the performance of Steel Manufacturing Companies in Kenya, with F statistic of 74.801 with probability value p of 0.000 (p < 0.05). The analysis further revealed that there is a fairly strong correlation between top management support practice and performance of Steel Manufacturing companies in Kenya (R =0.807, R²=0.652). The study recommends that top management should allocate more resources towards quality improvement and they should ensure that they set quality goals and distribute them throughout the organization.

Keywords: Quality Management Systems, Organizational Performance, Kenyan Steel Manufacturing Sector, Top Management Support.