| dc.description.abstract | corporate governance remains a key area of strategic management and continues to attract tremendous attention from the academia and practitioners. A plethora of studies have exam med the relationship between corporate governance and organizational performance with mixed results on the exact nature of the relationship between the two variables. Some studies report positive and direct relationship while others report negative and indirect relationship suggesting the role of other variables in that relationship. The Upper Echelon theory of strategic management points out that it is through the top management's strategic choices that an organization attains its desired standard of performance. Furthermore several scholars have theorized the role of critical resources as influencers of top management’s strategic decisions and actions in shaping fun, performance, suggesting both mediated and moderated roles of strategic choices and resources availability respectively on the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. It is on this basis that this study purposed to establish the mediating and moderating effect of strategic choices and resource availability respectively on the relationship between the variables among universities in Kenya. To attain this, the study formulated four objectives achieved through test of hypotheses. The objectives were; to establish the effect of corporate governance on performance of universities in Kenya, to determine the mediating effect of strategic choices on the relationship between corporate governance and performance of universities in Kenya, to establish the moderating effect of resource availability on the relationship between corporate governance and performance of universities in Kenya and to determine the combined effect of corporate governance, strategic choices and resource availability on performance of universities in Kenya. It adopted a pragmatic paradigm and an explanatory survey research design with a sample of 248 respondents from a target population of 653 university employees comprising of universities management board members and Deans/Directors and Heads of academic departments. Purposive, stratified, proportionate and simple random sampling techniques were used to determine the sample of the study. Structured questionnaire and document analysis guide were used to collect data, which was analyzed using, thematic analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed that corporate governance is positively and significantly correlated to performance (r =0.462, p-<0.05) and has a statistically significant effect on performance of universities in Kenya (R2= 0.213, F= 43 .410, p-value<0.05). It was also found that strategic choices have a significant partial mediating effect on the relationship between corporate governance and performance of universities in Kenya by causing a LlR2= 3.0% and has positive and significant correlation with performance (r = 0.419, p•<0.05). Further, the study established that resource availability has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between corporate governance and performance of universities in Kenya by causing a LlR2= 3.4% and has positive and significant correlation with performance at (r = 0.517, p-<0.05). On the last objective, the study found that the combined effect of corporate governance, strategic choices and resource availability on performance of universities in Kenya is statistically significant (R2=0.643, F=25.48, p-value<0.05) and greater than individual effect of the variables on the dependent variable. The study concludes that corporate governance is a vital framework for effective performance management and when supported with the right strategies and the requisite resource pool, can spur competitive organizational performance. It is thus recommended that universities should strive to put in place effective corporate governance structures in the management of their affairs and emphasize the need for and use of strategic planning as a management tool. The study has enriched strategic management literature regarding governance in institutions of higher learning both locally and internationally. | en_US |