Corporate Governance Leadership Practices and Reported Company Performance: Evidence from firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya

This study examines the relationship between five corporate governance leadership practices and employee-reported company performance in firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. A cross-sectional survey conducted in 2016 obtained 175 usable responses from nine companies out of 237 questionnaires distributed (73.8%). Reliability assessment, correlation analysis and multiple regression were employed. Each governance dimension was positively correlated with reported performance (r = 0.270–0.369; reported p < 0.001). The joint model explained 18.9% of outcome variation (R² = 0.189; adjusted R² = 0.165; F(5,169) = 7.887, p < 0.001). Leadership composition was the only independently significant predictor (B = 0.214, p = 0.004). These results distinguish simple correlations from independent statistical relationships and highlight the importance of leadership capabilities. The findings concern questionnaire-based performance assessments rather than audited financial returns. Keywords: Corporate governance; leadership composition; leadership independence; stakeholder ownership; ownership concentration; organizational performance; Nairobi Securities Exchange.