Definition, Operationalisation, and Measurement of Leadership Strategy: Application in the Banking Sector in Kenya

Abstract

This paper aimed to define, operationalise, and generate measures of leadership strategy that can inform future empirical enquiry and analysis. In addition, the paper aimed to provide a conceptualisation of the notion of leadership strategy, situating the concept within the broader leadership strategy literature from which a working definition of leadership strategy is coined. From the definition, leadership strategy was then operationalised by developing a set of items that can be used to measure it. The items were subsequently subjected to empirical evaluation and testing within the context of the banking sector in Kenya. Using SmartPLS software, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were performed on questionnaire data collected online from 184 senior managers of 12 banks listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The factors or indicators were validated with high scores of exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. All factors/indicators were validated and found to be consistently above theoretical thresholds. The study proposed an inventory for measuring leadership strategy using 24 Likert-scale items based on the empirical results. It is worth mentioning that while the items were validated in the banking sector context, each item is a generic measure of the corresponding factors and can be adapted for use in other research contexts. The paper established an empirical lead towards the proposition of an inventory for the construct of leadership strategy.