📄 Abstract
Chartered public universities play a central role in promoting national development through teaching, research, innovation, and community engagement. However, declining government funding, increasing operational costs, reduced student enrolment, heightened competition, and growing demands for institutional accountability have compelled universities to adopt innovative strategic approaches to enhance organizational performance including vertical diversification. Despite its growing adoption, empirical evidence regarding the influence of vertical diversification on the performance of chartered public universities, particularly within developing economies, remains limited. This study examined the influence of vertical diversification on the performance of chartered public universities in Kenya and investigated the moderating role of leadership style in this relationship. The study was anchored on the Resource Based View Theory and Ansoff Growth Matrix Theory and adopted a positivist research philosophy and a descriptive correlational research design. The target population comprised managers from the thirty-six chartered public universities in Kenya. A sample of 205 respondents was selected using Yamane’s sampling formula, of whom 170 returned completed questionnaires, representing a response rate of 82.9 percent. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and moderated binary logistic regression. The findings established that vertical diversification exerted a positive and statistically significant influence on the performance of chartered public universities. The results further revealed that leadership style significantly strengthened the relationship between vertical diversification and organizational performance. The study concludes that investment in vertically integrated academic, research, and professional service activities enhances institutional competitiveness and long-term sustainability when supported by effective leadership. The findings contribute to strategic management literature by extending empirical evidence on vertical diversification within higher education and provide practical insights for university managers and policy makers seeking to strengthen institutional performance.
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📚 How to Cite:
Gladys Kituku Kalondu, Prof. Peter Kihara (PhD), Dr. Wilson Muema (PhD) , INFLUENCE OF VERTICAL DIVERSIFICATION ON PERFORMANCE OF CHARTERED PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN KENYA: MODERATING ROLE OF LEADERSHIP STYLE , Volume 13 , Issue 8, August 2026, EPRA International Journal of Economics, Business and Management Studies (EBMS) , Pages: 93 - 102 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.36713/epra31188