The study sought to determine the influence of participative leadership style on organizational performance of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi County, Kenya. Anchored on Path Goal Leadership Theory, the study used positivism research philosophy and descriptive correlational research design. The target population consisted of managers/owners from 425 SMEs listed members of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers Nairobi Region.  A sample of 369 managers/owners was drawn from the total population using stratified random sampling technique and data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The descriptive statistics covered were mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis while inferential statistics used for data analysis included: pearson’s correlation, chi-square and binary logistic regression. Binary logistic regression (Cox and Snell R squared) revealed that 6.9 % of the probability of organizational performance was explained by participative leadership style. Parameter estimates results indicated that participative leadership style positively and significantly predicted organizational performance, β= 2.901, p = .000, p < 0.05. Consequently, the null hypothesis that “participative leadership style does not influence organizational performance in manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi” was rejected. The study concluded that participative leadership style significantly influenced organizational performance in manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi County. These study findings are significant to the owners/managers of SMEs, Policy makers/Industry regulators and Academic Researchers as they provide a new dimension on the effect of participative leadership on organizational performance. Since the study was limited to SMEs within Nairobi, further studies could be carried out on participative leadership and the influence it has on the organizational performance of manufacturing SMEs in Kenya at large. The inclusion of demographic variable, the application of a longitudinal research design and other data analysis methods could offer new insights in the SME sector.

This paper is based on a study that was conducted to examine the influence of supportive leadership style on organizational performance of manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi County, Kenya. Guided by the path goal leadership theory, the study employed use of a positivism research philosophy and descriptive correlational research design to determine the relationship between the two variables. The study targeted listed SME members of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers comprising 425 managers/owners of the organizations in Nairobi region. A sample size of 369 managers/owners was obtained from the population through stratified random sampling of the manufacturing SMEs. Data collection was done using self-administered questionnaires with a follow up analysis using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics included mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis while inferential statistics included Pearson’s correlation, chi-square and binary logistic regression. Binary logistic regression (Cox and Snell R squared) showed a 12 % probability of organizational performance being explained by adoption of supportive leadership style. The study indicated a significantly positive relationship between supportive leadership style and organizational performance (β= 4.114, p = .000, p < 0.05) rejecting the null hypothesis “Supportive leadership style does not influence organizational performance in manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi.” The study therefore concludes that supportive leadership style significantly influenced performance of manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi County. These findings provide a new understanding to the owners/managers of manufacturing SMEs on how supportive leadership impacts on organizational performance.  Nonetheless, the study recommends further research in a wider context of SMEs in Kenya taking note of demographic features and the use of a longitudinal approach in conducting the study.

This study sought to examine the influence of directive leadership style on organizational performance of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nairobi County, Kenya.  Positivism research philosophy and descriptive correlational research design were adopted.  The target population consisted of managers/owners from 425 SMEs listed members of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers in Nairobi Region. Stratified random sampling technique was then used to draw a sample size of 369 managers/owners from the total population. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires.  Binary Logistic Regression (Cox and Snell R squared) revealed that 13.7 % of the probability of organizational performance was explained by directive leadership style. The parameter estimates results indicated that directive leadership style positively and significantly predicted organizational performance, β= 3.435, p = .000, p < 0.05. Based on these results the null hypothesis that “directive leadership style does not influence organizational performance in manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi” was rejected. The study concluded that directive leadership style significantly influenced organizational performance in manufacturing SMEs in Nairobi County. The findings provide new insights for owners/managers of manufacturing SMEs on use of directive leadership style to influence performance in their organizations. However, given the differences in capacity and demographics in various counties, the study recommends a similar study to be conducted with focus on Kenya at large using a longitudinal approach and other data analysis methods to provide new understanding of the SME sector as a whole.