Sectoral Analysis of Moderating Effect of Structural Capability on the Relationship Between Workplace Diversity Practices and Organizational Performance of Publicly Quoted Companies in Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t5425Abstract
The study examined the sectoral analysis of the moderating effect of structural capability on the relationship between workplace diversity practices and organizational performance of publicly quoted companies in Kenya. The study was anchored on Dynamic Capabilities Theory and adopted a pragmatic philosophical underpinning through a convergent parallel mixed-methods design. A census approach covered all 56 publicly quoted companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange across 11 sectors, targeting 168 respondents comprising management employees drawn from human resource, finance, and strategy departments in each company. Following the exclusion of six pretested companies, the target population was reduced to 150 respondents from 50 companies, of whom 132 completed and returned their questionnaires, representing an 88 percent response rate. For the qualitative component, 11 management employees from human resource departments, one from each sector, were interviewed, achieving a 100 percent response rate. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and sectoral descriptive analysis, while qualitative data were analyzed through thematic analysis and triangulated with quantitative findings. The study found that all eleven sectors recorded mean scores above the 3.50 threshold across all five study variables, confirming general agreement on internal, external, and organizational diversity practices, structural capability, and organizational performance among publicly quoted companies in Kenya. Organizational diversity practices recorded the highest aggregate mean, while structural capability recorded the lowest mean and the highest inter-sectoral variability, indicating that it is the most unevenly developed construct across publicly quoted companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The Construction and Allied sector demonstrated the strongest alignment between diversity practices and organizational performance, while the Agricultural sector recorded the lowest structural capability development among all eleven sectors. The study concludes that structural capability is a critical sector-specific moderating mechanism whose effective development is essential for converting workplace diversity practices into superior and sustainable organizational performance outcomes among publicly quoted companies in Kenya, leading to rejection of the null hypothesis. The study recommends that boards, senior management, and regulatory bodies prioritize deliberate investment in sector-tailored structural capability development strategies to strengthen the diversity–performance relationship across all sectors of publicly quoted companies on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya.
Keywords: Structural capability, workplace diversity practices, organizational performance, sectoral analysis, publicly quoted companies, Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya
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